Talk:Eunice aphroditois

message: There's a recent news report of a Giant Reef Worm turning up in a Cornish aquarium:  This report contains a worrying comment:
Having done some research we also discovered that it is covered with thousands of bristles which are capable of inflicting a sting resulting in permanent numbness'."
I can't find anything online to back this up, so I'm not going to add it to the main text. It would be useful if an expert in the field could look this up, as a good article surely needs to give a safety warning if this animal is genuinely dangerous.
--Nile (talk) 21:02, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unconfirmed reports of venomous spines 

message: I cut this from the article after weeks of not finding support or references:
The female may attack the male's sex organ after mating, detaching it with her sharp bone plates and then feeding it to her young. This behavior inspired the common name applied by marine biologists to the animal, (Bobbit worm), a reference to Lorena Bobbitt, a woman who cut off her husband's penis in 1993.
A totally fictitious work, should be removed or referenced. An article with no reference has no validity.Bob300w (talk) 05:36, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section needs verification 

message: Probablty needs moving back to E. aphroditois (or tentacula) . Rich Farmbrough, 19:09, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Move

message: It's a bit odd to give a vernacular name which is obviously very recent for an animal that's been described in the scientific literature since the eighteenth century.  Looking for the Latin name in Google Books turns up a variety of different vernacular names: Biting reef worm (the most common), Wonder-worm, Bristle worm, large reef worm.N p holmes (talk) 15:39, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Name

message: "researchers hypothesize that sexual reproduction occurs at an early stage, maybe even when the worm is about 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length; this is very early, considering that these worms can grow to sizes of nearly 3 metres (9.8 ft)"
Difficult to believe a worm would reproduce when young and then stop reproducing as an adult even though it keeps growing. Few species have such "grandmother stage", humans have it because human babies and children need a lot of attention. Evolutionarily speaking there's no reason for this worm to stop reproducing at an early age- sounds made up - references? 78.29.170.229 (talk) 23:10, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: video of bobbit worm spawning, possibly. Can't think what else it might be <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTDINa1w470> but then I'm not a biologist. Could be some kind of waste disposal or incidental outgassing from the seafloor, unrelated to the worm. Any thoughts? 92.24.204.48 (talk) 23:30, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sexual reproduction 

message: The worm found in the aquarium among the coral was a polychaete, but nothing states definitely that it is a bobbit worm, nor its species. There are 8,000 species and "bristle worm" or "bristleworm" is just the name for all of them, not any particular species. I doubt that the article about that individual worm belongs here. Perhaps in an article about the polychaete worms. See "Introduction to the Polychaeta."
--Monado (talk) 20:37, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Indented line
The pictures of the aquarium worm show a completely different organism from the one in the article picture. I recommend the reference be removed. -  Metalello talk 08:06, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aquarium specimen? 

message: This Wiki quotes the 2012 Scientific American article http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/2012/10/22/eunice-aphroditois-is-rainbow-terrifying/ for the quote " It is also covered in bristles that are capable of a sting that results in permanent numbness in humans" however - Scientific American are quoting verbatim the 2009 Daily Mail article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165930/Barry-giant-sea-worm-discovered-aquarium-staff-mysterious-attacks-coral-reef.html in this instance. 
The Daily Mail article, from what I can see, is the original source of this claim. It is based on second hand information obtained by an aquarium keeper unfamiliar with these animals. There is no information online prior to the 2009 article on this topic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.114.88 (talk) 04:22, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Either that or The Daily Fail just made it up.  Nice sleuthing, 81.157.114.88.  Please feel free to correct the article. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 05:05, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Duly updated! I've put in a few extra facts from that new source. There's still more info there, but I don't have time meld it into the wiki.81.157.114.88 (talk) 05:22, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bristles / Numbness - False Information in sources 

message: Little is known about the sexual habits and lifespan of this worm, but researchers hypothesize that sexual reproduction occurs at an early stage, maybe even when the worm is about 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length; this is very early, considering that these worms can grow to sizes of nearly 3 metres (9.8 ft) in some cases (although most observations point to a much lower average length of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) and an average of 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in diameter). A long lifespan may very well explain the size of these creatures.[verification needed]
either this has inspired the following video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sczu8Q0YpLQ), or the seemingly untrustworthy video has been used as a source for writing this section. This also relates to the previously removed section about the relation between the creatures name and its alleged sexual behaviour.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.73.132.16 (talk) 21:23, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Source of 3rd paragraph? 

message: Really excellent organism choice. Should be a lot more info out there about these viscous little creatures! would like to see more info about digestive strategies and how the animal actually feeds after capturing its prey. Nice start and look forward to learning more about it.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brivel9501 (talk • contribs) 03:38, 26 February 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bleu's Peer Review 

message: in Diet and Foraging, the following passage appears:
However, any quick strike by the mandibles of the worm can leave the fish stunned while also injecting a certain level of toxins.
The associated reference is totally unrelated. I was under the impression that this species was non-venomous. Can someone confirm? I was unable to find peer-reviewed references to this animal having a venomous bite, and the wording "toxins" makes me rather suspicious of this claim.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:1418:C242:A831:3EA8:96DE:5632 (talk) 13:58, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Injecting toxins" unsubstantiated 

message: The redirect Barry(worm) has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached.  Plantdrew (talk) 05:48, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  "[[:Barry(worm)]]" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: The referred to photo has no scale nor any common object as a reference. That is to say, it does not "show" the worm's length. I could argue that the thing is a couple of inches long or a couple of yards, there is no way to tell by looking at the photo. It's probably informative enough to warrant its inclusion, but the caption ought to be changed. I suggest something like "prostrate worm, across sea floor" (although 'prostrate' may be a bit inaccurate...). Oh, also the third photo, I can't figure out if that is one worm, or several, and if one whether it's been dismembered or the photo doesn't clearly indicate where it bends sharply nor where it's buried. I suggest removing it, I don't think it adds to the article, unless "adding confusion" is intended...98.21.208.178 (talk) 20:14, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. ItchyBurrito (talk) 19:23, 20 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photograph "showing" its length