Some scientific discoveries are exciting because they have the potential to save lives and revolutionise the way we live. Others are exciting because they fundamentally change the way we view ourselves and the world around us. And others are exciting because they involve a worm with tentacles on its head.

This is the third kind of discovery.

The squidworm looks like a fusion animal, half-squid and half-worm. In fact, it’s all worm, a member of the group that includes familiar earthworms and leeches. It just happens to have ten long tentacles on its head.

scyllaThe tentacles are elastic and extendable, and they can be longer than the squidworm’s ten-centimetre body. Two of them – the yellower ones – are used for feeding.