Giant Sea Worm Wreaks Havok

Workers at a British aquarium spent months scratching their heads over continued damage at their live coral exhibit. One by one, various coral specimens had been left devastated-- in some cases, cut in half.

Staff staked out the display for several weeks, but with no luck. Matt Slater, the aquarium's curator, said: 'Something was guzzling our reef but we had no idea what." They would periodically find injured fish, and baited traps were found completely ripped apart.


Finally, the aquarium had no choice but to systematically dismantle the exhibit, rock by rock. Halfway through the process the deadly culprit was revealed-- they unearthed a secretive 'giant sea' worm, which had been decimating the live coral and attacking prize fish.

The 4-foot long monster, now named Barry, is a polychaete worm, which is also capable of inflicting permanent numbness on humans with its sting. Slater said Barry, who has now been relocated to his own tank, probably arrived as a juvenile in a delivery of living rock from another aquarium.