Their long slimy shape and prominent stripe superficially resembles land leeches but their action on land is very unlike the leech’s ‘inchworm’ or looper caterpillar action. I suppose if you have a good imagination they could resemble small snakes as they don’t contract and elongate as an earthworm does. Being flatworms they move on a slime track like a snail or slug’s. Part of the confusion in the public mind is based on their appearance and partly on their movement. It’s about 6 cm long and a deep navy blue with a pale stripe down its back, bright blue underneath and a pink- or red-tipped head end.Īfter wet weather these exotic-looking flatworms can emerge in large numbers. The most common of these is called the Blue Planarian, Caenoplana coerulea. ![]() The culprit is any of several species of terrestrial planarian worm. Once the wet weather starts, the Museum often gets inquiries about small, brightly coloured "snakes", invasions of "leeches", unusual "slugs" and similar queries - all relating to an animal which is actually none of these.
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