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Thousands of Stranded Pulsing Penis Fish Turn California Coast into ‘Schlong Beach’—WATCH

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Thousands of pulsating, phallus shaped “penis fish” have washed up on California Drakes Beach. The fish, which are actually fat innkeeper worms (Urechis caupo), are believed to have been washed ashore by recent storms.

Olympian freestyle skier hilariously tweeted that it was “Schlong Beach”:

 

According to The New York Post: “We’re seeing the risk of building your home out of sand,” Ivan Parr, a biologist from the Western Section of the Wildlife Society says. “Strong storms — especially during El Niño years — are perfectly capable of laying siege to the intertidal zone, breaking apart the sediments, and leaving their contents stranded on shore.”

The spoonworm, which can live up to 25 years, feeds and swims using its “spatula-shaped proboscis.” It typically eats bacteria, plankton and other small particles, which it collects using “sticky mucus nets.”

According to Bay Nature, “Yes, the physical design of the fat innkeeper worm has some explaining to do. But the fat innkeeper is perfectly shaped for a life spent underground. Within a beach or mudflat, it digs a U-shaped burrow extending a few feet in length but no wider than the worm itself. The burrow’s front entrance pokes up like a little sand chimney. These can be seen clustered around the low tide line of a mudflat or sandy beach. The backdoor is marked by a pile of worm castings, which get projected out the end of the tunnel with a blast of water from the worm’s hindquarters.

Parr says he’s heard of sightings over the years in California at Pajaro Dunes, Moss Landing, Bodega Bay and Princeton Harbor.

The creature dates back 300 million years and also can be eaten. An anonymous colleague at The Post who has dined on a stir-fried fat innkeeper worm in Shanghai, China, describes the taste as “like a Livestrong band mated with a clam.”

 

 

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