Los Ángeles. Miles de gusanos marinos llamados “pez pene”, por su forma y color, aparecieron esta semana en una playa de California, después de que una fuerte tormenta de invierno levantara la arena donde viven y los dejara al descubierto.

Estas lombrices, la Urechis caupo, un tipo de anélido marino considerado un manjar en China, Japón y especialmente en Corea del Sur, conformaron una especie de tapiz de salchichas rosadas y babosas en la playa Drake, a unos 80 km al norte de San Francisco.

En esa bahía se cree que Francis Drake desembarcó en la costa oeste de Estados Unidos durante su circunnavegación del mundo por vía marítima en 1579.

Aunque su aspecto siempre llama la atención, la forma de estos gusanos, que pueden medir 25 cm, es perfecta para excavar madrigueras en forma de U en playas y marismas, y utilizar los túneles para atrapar alimentos.

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The Korean name for this curious creature is gaebul, which translates as “dog dick.” Here in the States, it’s known as the fat innkeeper worm or the penis fish. Its scientific binomial is Urechis caupo, or “viper tail tradesman.” Whatever you call the animal, you can find them in abundance at Bodega Bay, where they build burrows in the tidal mud flats. On Saturday afternoon, our small, but enthusiastic clamming/crabbing crew thrust shovels and shoulder-deep arms into that mud in pursuit of Pacific gaper clams (Tresus nuttallii), but we also pulled up at least twenty of these red rockets. We returned them to their subterranean homes – excepting those that were snatched by eager herring gulls. I learned later that the gulls were the smarter hunters; fat innkeepers are edible, and are even considered a delicacy in Korea. Still, even though we missed out on a prime opportunity to dine on dog dick, we had a successful, fun outing, encountering a number of curious species, some of which now reside my belly. ⊙ What you’re looking at here: • Fat innkeeper worm (Urechis caupo) • A ring of prominent setae on the butt end of the fat innkeeper worm (Urechis caupo) • Bay ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) • Lewis’s moon snail (Euspira lewisii) • Bucket filled w/ Pacific gaper clams or “horsenecks” (Tresus nuttallii), white macoma or “sand clams” (Macoma secta), and Lewis’s moon snails • Red rock crabs (Cancer productus) back in the kitchen, icing after boiling ๑ ๑ ๑ ๑ ๑ #BodegaBay #gaebul #FatInnkeeperWorm #UrechisCaupo #BayGhostShrimp #NeotrypaeaCaliforniensis #LewissMoonSnail #EuspiraLewisii #PacificGgaperClam #TresusNuttallii #RedRockCrab #CancerProductus #crabbing #clamming #huntergatherer #SonomaCounty #California #naturalhistory

A post shared by Christopher Reiger (@christopherreiger) on Feb 18, 2019 at 9:20am PST