Bootlace worm fires crab-killing toxic slime
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Bootlace worm stretches up to 55 metres in length, though typically 15 metres, with a width of just 5–10mm, making it one of the longest known animals.
- Bootlace worm discharges blackish-brown toxic mucus when threatened, which has a sewage-like odour and is lethal to crabs.
- Swedish scientists fully described the worm’s toxins in 2018, identifying compounds called alpha-nemertides that paralyse and kill crustaceans.
- Alpha-nemertides also kill cockroaches but have little effect on mammals, raising the possibility of their use in eco-friendly insecticides.
- Lineus longissimus is part of the nemertean phylum, which includes over 1,250 species of ribbon worms found from shorelines to deep oceans.
- Reader nomination highlights the bootlace worm as a neglected marvel of Britain’s coastal biodiversity and a voracious predator of segmented worms.
Why it matters: The discovery of alpha-nemertides in bootlace worm slime offers a potential pathway to develop targeted insecticides that are harmless to mammals, turning a little-known marine predator into a candidate for biotech innovation. Researchers stand to gain new biochemical tools, while pest control could become more species-specific and environmentally safe.
Ask SkimNews
