Overview
- Beachgoers in Comodoro Rivadavia’s Kilómetro 3 and in Puerto Madryn found hundreds of pink, tube‑like organisms on the sand after recent heavy seas, alongside a bristly “sea mouse” polychaete.
- Experts identified the animals as Urechis unicinctus, a marine worm nicknamed “penis fish” that lives buried and builds U‑shaped tunnels in sand or mud.
- Specialists said strong currents and storm‑driven tides disturbed the seabed and flushed the buried worms out of their burrows onto shore.
- Marine biologists stressed the worms are harmless to people, and residents used seaweed and incoming waves to return many living specimens to the water.
- Several outlets noted the species is eaten in parts of Asia as a delicacy, though the individuals stranded by the storm are not suitable for consumption.