What is this thing?

April 7, 2007 at 9:30 am #7370

Participant

Hi everyone,

This thing was crawling around in my yard outside in Southern California. Any clues as to what it is? And now that I think about it, should I have been letting it crawl around on my hand ❓ It was quite long and left a slime trail behind. Here are some pictures

img256.imageshack.us/img256/533/img1921bb1.jpg
img295.imageshack.us/img295/5324/img1922li8.jpg

Thanks in advance!! 😀

April 7, 2007 at 2:36 pm #70937

CoffeaRobusta

Participant

Wow. Cool pictures. It is a type of free-living planarians, called land planarians (flatworms). I think there are several different species, and are basically harmless unless you are an earthworm.

April 7, 2007 at 6:04 pm #70941

Darby

Participant

The play of light on the second specimen seems to suggest an annelid – also the image of blood vessels inside. But I don’t know of annelids with that shape at the end.

That is the "head" end, right-?

April 7, 2007 at 7:28 pm #70945

fizix314

Participant

quote Darby:

The play of light on the second specimen seems to suggest an annelid – also the image of blood vessels inside. But I don’t know of annelids with that shape at the end.

That is the “head” end, right-?

The triangular end seemed to be the head end. It was feeling around with it and moving with that in front. Occasionally it would flex it’s head around in a manta ray style for whatever reason, really cool looking.

It had some dark lines running lengthwise down it that are hard to see in the picture.

April 7, 2007 at 7:35 pm #70946

fizix314

Participant

quote CoffeaRobusta:

Wow. Cool pictures. It is a type of free-living planarians, called land planarians (flatworms). I think there are several different species, and are basically harmless unless you are an earthworm.

Thanks Coffee,

I googled that name and found other pictures similar to mine, good job.

georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/gpstorypage.cfm?storyid=2757

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