We just received a question from a reader in Australia. He found an interesting creature on a bush walk (which is a hike) and wants to know what it is. He said it is quite thin and about 10 cm long, slightly resembles a snake, but doesn’t have a typical snakehead. Also, it looks rainbow colored in certain light, and is harder than any worm he’s felt before. He wonders if this could be a blind snake.

The picture that accompanied his post shows a very thin, long, white worm-like organism. There are some distractions in the photo, which make it difficult to determine if the creature is on land or in water.

There is the possibility that this is a blind snake, but we doubt it. Most blind snakes have a thicker body than the snake our reader found, and they are nocturnal and rarely seen. So what could this be?

We believe that this creature could be a Nematomorpha, which are more commonly known as Gordian worms or Horsehair worms. Horsehair worms range in size, but most are about 1 mm in diameter and can grow up to 100 cm long. These worms are found all over the world, often in aquatic settings. While a horsehair worm could be a fit for our reader’s discovery, we aren’t sure how the “rainbow color” or “hardness” fit into the equation.

In summary, one of our readers came across a thin worm while hiking in the Blue Mountains of Northwest Australia. We have a hunch that he found a horsehair worm.