Image

Serpentine Style

It’s not a miniature serpent—scientists found this glassy planktonic worm in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. A relative of earthworms, it uses its red-tipped swimming paddles to swim through the water in serpentine curves, hunting smaller animals. When threatened, worms of this species (Tomopteris, meaning “cut wings”) release clouds of yellow sparks—an unusual color in the sea, where bioluminescence is normally blue.(Photo by Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)