Texas' 'Worst Nightmare': Fireworms

Forget about stepping on a seashell—Texans now have a new thing to be on the lookout for when they head to the shore. "WARNING!!! Your worst nightmares are washing up right now," Texas A&M's Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies cautioned earlier this month about the appearance of poisonous fireworms—also known as bristle worms, marine polychaetes from the family Amphinomidae—on giant logs that have drifted to shore near Corpus Christi and Port Aransas, report USA Today and the Austin American-Statesman.

• Behind the name: They're called fireworms due to "the pain they inflict on anyone that dares to touch them; it literally feels like fire for about three hours," the institute notes. "Your skin can feel sensitive in the sting site for weeks depending on where it stung you." The creatures release a neurotoxin through their minuscule white bristles, which extend when threatened and break off when touched.

• Discovery: The institute's Jace Tunnell tells USA Today that he made the recent find in the Lone Star State by accident, while shooting footage on gooseneck barnacles. The logs the worms were found on were covered with the barnacles, which the worms may have been feeding on, the institute notes.
• Habitats: Fireworms are typically found clinging to sites where other crustaceans are hunkered down, as that serves as their dinner, although they also pop up in coral reefs, on rocky landscapes, and in seagrass. "They are found in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and of course the Gulf of Mexico," the institute says. They've even popped up as far as New Zealand, per the Washington Post.
• US sightings: Luckily, Tunnell says it's not likely most Texans will come across one, as local beaches aren't exactly being flooded with them—he tells USA Today that he sees one or two per year there. There was also a sighting in North Carolina in August of 2022.
• If you get pierced: Tunnell says to apply isopropyl alcohol or vinegar to the sting, while the National Park Service advises using ammonia to help ease the pain. The NPS also notes that adhesive tape can help pull up the bristles from your skin.

(More worms stories.)