The Bobbit worm dilemma: a case for DNA (Reply to Salazar-Vallejo et al. 2011. Giant Eunicid Polychaetes (Annelida) in shallow tropical and temperate seas. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59-4: 1463 1474)

Abstract

Whoever came up with the name ?Bobbit worm?? It must be a fairly recent idea, given that the ?regretful incident? in the Bobbit family only happened in 1993. Unfortunately, it is not clear who coined the name or when it was first used. The name does not do the worms justice and is misleading. For example, one of the explanations for the name that comes up when googling ?Bobbit worm? is that the female bites off the male?s penis after copulation (seriously? Since when do they have penises?!). Neither are there any reports of eunicids attacking body parts of unsuspecting humans in their vicinity. The jaws resemble scissors, which is another possible explanation for the name, although actually, the ?Bobbit incident? was committed with a carving knife.