Although ribbon worm videos have been popular on YouTube for a while, it's uncommon that one of them makes it to mainstream media the way this one has, after a Taiwanese fisherman caught it on a video he later uploaded to media-sharing site YouTube and hundreds of thousands turn to watch it.
As many wonder what type of species the ribbon worm video's actually showcasing, National Geographic answers doubts, saying that it's a type of nemertean called Lineus fuscoviridis, a harmless Asian tropical coastal waters species (ranging from Japan to the Philippines) known for its large size, as this type of worm can measure up to six feet.
Yahoo! News reports that the ribbon worm video that went viral was recently shot in Penghu, Taiwan, when fisherman Wei Cheng Jiang captured the long green worm featuring a long and protrusion that makes it even more disturbing, as it looks like it's a second worm coming out of it.
In fact, the pink pseudo-worm present in the ribbon worm video is actually a proboscis, a part of its body used to paralyze their prey and therefore obtain food, as well as looking absolutely terrifying to the human eye.
According to Forbes, there are more than 1,000 forms of nemertean in the world, and the ribbon worm video that has gone viral actually shows one of the tamest subspecies of this kind.
To make matters even more disturbing, among the many varieties of these nemertea there's also the bootlace worm, the largest species of its kind, which scientists believe can actually be as big as 197 feet, well over half the length of a football field - and certainly not something divers care to encounter often in their undersea adventures.
Possible preys of nemertean can include fiddler crabs, after having attacked it with its venom - it then proceeds to go into the crab's shell and eat it from the inside.
In any case, you can watch the creepy ribbon worm video below, not for the faints of heart!
