New worm discovered with one head and hundreds of bottoms

A new species of worm has been discovered living inside sea sponges in Japan - but this is no ordinary, run of the mill, straight up and down, earth-digging worm.

This is a worm with hundreds of bottoms, which can detach from the worm's body and swim away all by themselves.

It would seem that Spider-Man doesn't have a thing on super-worm.

The worm has been affectionately named by scientists Ramisyllis kingghidorahi, after Godzilla's multi-headed enemy - King Ghidorah. How sweet.

Twenty-five of these worms have been discovered so far, with the first of its kind found in October 2019.

This species is uncommon for a number of reasons, including its body shape.

Instead of being one long and narrow tube, it is shaped more like a tree, with branches and twigs.

These 'branching worms' are not very common - and the Ramisyllis kingghidorahi is only the third such species to have been discovered.

Researchers in Japan, who first came across the invertebrate, asked biodiversity expert Maria Teresa Aguado and her team from the University of Göttingen in Germany to investigate.

They think the unique shape of these species has helped them survive in the small, intricate spaces in coral.

Professor Aguado said that there are still lots of questions about this worm that have yet to be answered.

"Scientists don't yet understand the nature of the relationship between the branching worm and its host sponge," she explained.

And possibly the most crucial question of them all needs answering, "How do the worms manage to feed to maintain their huge bodies having just one tiny mouth in their single head?"

Let's hope they get to the 'bottom' of that eventually...