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Space Daily: In a William & Mary lab tank, a ribbon worm named Baseodiscus the Eldest has been quietly eating peanut worms in the mud for more than 20 years
Summary
Jon Allen, associate professor of biology, is featured in this article about the oldest ribbon worm ever recorded.
Full Description
"In a lab tank at William & Mary in Virginia, a three-foot ribbon worm named Baseodiscus the Eldest — B, to the people who feed him — has been quietly hunting peanut worms in the mud for more than 20 years. A genetic analysis run in 2024 at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology confirmed what he is: Baseodiscus punnetti. It could not say how old he is. That figure comes from the captivity record instead — a minimum of 27 years, a best estimate nearer 30 — and it makes him the oldest ribbon worm on record, by more than two decades. The only other nemertean age in the scientific literature belonged to a worm three years old."