allright, seriously...
the first time i saw this, kinda freaked me out.
reminds me of john carpenters, "the thing"

Had a feeling I'd see this around on DD.
Quite a sight, isn't it? But it's hardly an unknown creature.

Those worms are amazing in the way they work together like that aren't they? So cool looking :)
Now if John Carpenter had used those for some of his effects...

those are all worms? yuch!!

also, the thing looks like it was the primary influence for the elric brothers' second incarnation of their mother

aw yeah, saw that the other day. fuckin amazing, the only thing creepier then how those things look is how they move...

also, one of those is TOTALLY going into Putrid Meat...

Since everyone seams to know already but me, what the hell kind of worms are those?

Can't recall.

But what they're doing in the vids is actually very mundane, even though it looks amazing:

When there's no soil or other matter for them to burrow into, they clump with each other instead. When one worm moves within the clump, ALL others will move because of that, transferring the motion through the entire clump. Like dominoes but in 3D. -So they look like one organism. :)

In the Sewer pipe, the water would be rich in nutrients, so they wouldn't need the soil in order to feed. They can just form a colony, rather like a soft version of coral when you think about it.

Apparently they're called Tubifex worms. [en.wikipedia.org]

They build a protective cyst around themselves which is why it looks like an organ of some sort.

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They build a protective cyst around themselves which is why it looks like an organ of some sort

I don't think that's right PP. In the wiki article it says the worms only use a cyst when there isn't much food or there is a drought etc. It's also implied they do this individually, not as a group. In which case they're not able to make a giant group cyst, nor would they in the conditions in those videos. ;)

What you might think of as a cyst around them is probably just the mucous and slime as well as any waste material from their normal activities...?

Doesn't seem to me like that would be very comfortable for the worms stuck in the middle there.

Narsty.

ozoneocean
I don't think that's right PP.

I thought that there might not be enough oxygen down there which is why I came to that conclusion.

Looking at that video, it looks like they build some strange "skin" around themselves. I figured it was a result of the encystment.

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I thought that there might not be enough oxygen down there which is why I came to that conclusion.

That would only mean they'd absorb less oxygen and those inside the middle of the mass would be first to die from the lack of it.

I see how you could form the misapprehension, but it only looks like they're all encased.

Well I read stuff like "survive in areas so heavily polluted with organic matter" and "lowering its metabolic rate" and I didn't think about silly problems like breathing. :(

My suggestion to anyone living in California is to get out before those things start hatching.

there tubifex worms

BffSatan
My suggestion to anyone living in California is to get out before those things start hatching.

are you joking? they find a few more of those everyone in california will be able to get flame throwers to protect their families!

FLAME THROWERS!

california's going to be AWESOME!

Tubifex worms huh? So that's where my fish's food comes from.