A reader recently sent us a photograph accompanied by this message, “Could you find out if this worm that I found in the toilet is a parasite or not?” The photograph he sent shows a very thin worm-like organism floating in some urine. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough detail to identify the specimen, but we will explore a few potential possibilities.
The specimens readers discover most often in their toilets are bloodworms, earthworms, and drain fly larvae. Bloodworms, which are actually midge fly larvae, are tiny, bright red worms that live in polluted water and feed on sediment and organic material. Earthworms vary a lot more in color. They might be brown, red, or purple. They have segmented bodies that are a few inches long. Drain fly larvae are minuscule black larvae that also feed on organic material. We believe the creature in the photo is too thin to be an earthworm and too large to be a drain fly larva. So, out of the most common creatures discovered in toilets, we think it this specimen is most likely to be a bloodworm. Of course, there is a possibility that it is some other specimen entirely, but as we mentioned we don’t have enough information to make a certain identification.
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