07-05-2025
Divers catch ‘accordion-like' creature off coast of Spain. It's a new species
World Divers catch 'accordion-like' creature off coast of Spain. It's a new species
Off the coast of Spain, a long creature can contort its body into something much smaller.
Hayffield L. via Unsplash
Tucked under the stones and shells of the shallow waters off Spain, one creature has the ability to completely alter its size.
Up to nearly 10 inches long, the animals have the ability to contract their bodies to one-fourth or one-fifth of their total size when disturbed.
That animal is a ribbon worm — and a newly discovered species.
Researchers found the marine worm off Galicia, Spain, during scuba diving trips in the summer of 2021, according to a study published May 7 in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Open Science.
Pararosa vigarae, or the accordion worm, has a 'brown to dark green body' and a rounded head shape and is made from a series of muscular rings, according to the study.
The new species can contort its body into a smaller area, earning its name as an accordion worm. Verdes, et al (2025)
Royal Society Open Science
The rings allow the animal to change shape, contracting to pull the body closer together, researchers said.
'The contraction is rapid and forms regular rings that give it an accordion-like appearance, which we have used to colloquially refer to the species,' researchers said. 'The number of rings varies according to the size of the specimen, with the largest specimen (9.8 inches long) presenting 60 rings when fully stretched.'
Despite having a 'well-developed' brain, the animals have no eyes, according to the study, and their head is just marked by a slightly red area and a notched surface.
The species's scientific name derives from the senior author's wife, Rosa Vigara, and was named 'as a gift for their golden wedding anniversary,' researchers said.
The accordion worm is eyeless, researchers said. Verdes, et al (2025)
Royal Society Open Science
The accordion worms are known to live under rocks or shells about 100 feet below the surface, according to the study.
'The six specimens were found surrounded by a mucus sheath, five of them sheltered together under a shell,' researchers said.
The species's size and coloration sets it apart from all other heteronemerteans, or ribbon worms, along with its 'unique' shrinking behavior, according to the study.
Researchers called it 'reminiscent of large leeches.'
The animal's head is marked by a notched end. Verdes, et al (2025)
Royal Society Open Science
'The accordion worm belongs to the order Heteronemertea, same as Lineus longissimus, the longest animal on Earth, according to the Guinness World Records,' study author Aida Verdes told IFLScience. 'When heteronemerteans contract their body, wrinkles or rings may appear due to epidermal tightening, but these rings are not regularly distributed as observed in the accordion worm.'
The worms are also venomous, Verdes told the news outlet, and her research is still trying to understand what toxins are used to make the group of marine worms effective predators.
'The coast of Galicia is the area where most nemertean species are known because it has been sampled more than other areas,' Verdes told the outlet, '[and yet], we still find new species to science with unique behaviors.'
Galicia is on the northwestern coast of Spain, just north of Portugal along the Atlantic Ocean.
The research team includes Verdes, Carlota Gracia-Sancha, Jacinto Pérez-Dieste, María Conejero, Patricia Alvarez Campos, Carlos Leiva, Sergi Taboada, Ana Riesgo and Juan Junoy.
Irene Wright
McClatchy DC Email this person
Irene Wright is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter. She earned a B.A. in ecology and an M.A. in health and medical journalism from the University of Georgia and is now based in Atlanta. Irene previously worked as a business reporter at The Dallas Morning News.
