We recently heard from a reader in Australia who has had a couple run-ins with a type of worm on the side of her bathtub. She said she hasn’t been able to find any information about it on the Internet, and therefore has no clue what it is. She mentioned that at first she though it was an earthworm, but she didn’t think earthworms swam or climbed. This detail could be useful in identifying the worm because if she thought it was an earthworm than it probably is similar in appearance.

The reader also sent in both a picture and a video of the worm. It is a couple inches long and segmented. The outer layer of the worm is translucent pinkish brown, and the tail end of the worm has an inner dark layer. The video shows the worm moving in typical worm fashion in a Tupperware container with some water in it.

After watching the video, our first guess was also that it is an earthworm. Although earthworms do not typically swim, they can survive in fresh water for several weeks depending on how much oxygen is in the water. After examining the picture more closely, we see a dark swollen collar near the head of the worm. We believe this is the clitellum. The clitellum is an anatomical feature on earthworms that signifies sexual maturity. Therefore, we are fairly confident that our reader has been finding earthworms.

If she has been finding these in her bathtub often (she said it’s been 3 times so far) then they could be getting in through the plumbing. There could be a hole in the pipes that run through the ground, and the earthworms crawling in from there. We recommend she get in touch with a plumber if she continues finding these worms.

To sum up, our reader has been finding what we believe to be earthworms in her bathtub in Australia.

Originally posted 2015-12-08 14:53:16.