Carnivorous and voracious, with a colorful appearance but with thousands of stinging spines, they have no enemies and if you break them in two they regenerate. They are not alien creatures protagonists of a science fiction film, but dog worms, also known as fire worms or sea worms. In recent years these feared specimens have multiplied due to summer heat waves, invading the coasts of Southern Italy, between Sicily, Puglia and Calabria.
The strong presence of warblers has made them an invasive species, threatening to the animals that live in marine natural reserves, including corals, and to the work of fishermen. For this reason they are in the sights of the biologists of the laboratory of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) active in Panarea and Milazzo.
What are dog worms?
Vermocane, whose scientific name is Hermodice carunculata, have stinging toxins in their bristles that generate edema, itching and fever. The expert Michela D'Alessandro, together with colleagues Valentina Esposito and Marco Graziani, is studying this species, which until recently was known to be numerous only in the Suez Canal: “The study of vermocane is a project of the Ogs , born in the wake of reports from fishermen”.
In fact, more and more frequently, fishermen find fish caught in their nets killed by these unstoppable animals, which are on average 20 centimeters long and in some cases can reach one metre. Injuries among fishermen are also frequent, and they are often forced to resort to cortisone. The warblers have also reached rocks and beaches and to warn of possible damage, the Ogs biologists have promoted an information campaign.