The EU-US Marine Biodiversity Research Group, coordinated by Professor Juan Junoy Pintos, from the University of Alcalá de Henares, has detected for the first time in our country the presence of Ototyphlonemertes duplex , a strange marine worm that has stones in the head and stabs his victims with the help of a stiletto .
It is a species from the group of nemerteans , elongated and slimy worms that have been known in Spain since the end of the 19th century. Evolutionarily, they are the first invertebrates to have a complete digestive tract. They normally function as predators in marine ecosystems by using a proboscis or proboscis to capture their prey .
However, some of them, such as the Ototyphlonemertes duplex , have a kind of stylus or punches, which can be replaced by other spare ones. Sometimes, the blade of this particular weapon can deteriorate or break after an attack , but the nemerteans lodge inside their body two cavities like pantries in which they keep up to six spare blades.
The prefix oto with which its name begins is due to the stones on the head, which seem to fulfill auditory functions (oto), and serve to orient themselves between the sand. Duplex Ototyphlonemertes need to locate their space in the sandy avalanche to be able to crawl in one direction or another, and their eyes are useless, since they are blind: hence, the following syllables of their name (typhlo: blind) . To continue with the etymology, it must be said that nemertes , which is the name of a marine nymph, refers to its group of belonging, the nemerteans.
The surname duplex alludes to the double condition of the stones on his head. Due to the difficulties involved in investigating this group of invertebrates, very few coastal scholars have paid attention to them, despite the fact that nemerteans, although not abundant, are not rare creatures of the seabed. 76 species are known in our country, less than 20% of those in Europe .
