Black Striped Worm Could be a Flatworm

One of our readers requested information about a worm-like organism he noticed one night. He wrote (with some minor editing from us), “It looks like it may have long black stripes also lighter on it’s underside. The weird thing was that its head kept going flat … Body wise it moved more snakelike.” After reading this we have several questions for our reader. Are the long black stripes on top or the underside? What color is the “lighter” underside? What does he mean by “its head kept going flat”? We also don’t have a picture or video to use for more information.

Without any of these critical details, we are hesitant to identify the critter. That being said, we have a hunch that he might have found a flatworm.

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There are many species of both aquatic and terrestrial flatworms. They appear in a variety of colors, and some of them have stripes. Since our reader didn’t mention discovering the worm near water, we assume he has found a terrestrial flatworm (if he has in fact discovered a flatworm).

Since we don’t have a picture or a more detailed description, we can’t be sure that he found a flatworm. If he is unsatisfied with this answer, we urge him to send in some more information or a photograph that can provide some crucial clues!

To end, we received a puzzling description of a worm. We think this worm might be a flatworm but we aren’t positive.

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