# Small, white, pinching, wormlike...



## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

The last time I went surf fishing, we had stopped at a new spot at about the 22mm. We were up to our waists in the surf and had been fishing only about 10 minutes when my nephew ran out of the water yelling " they're all over me " ,over and over. He was also batting at himself with his fishing rod. Since he is not prone to acting like a complete lunatic, I was a little worried. I really got worried when he pulled off his trunks and shirt and started beating himself about the body. Just in case he really had gone crazy, I kept on fishing giving him time to run off into the dunes and get as far away as possible. Just then, my Son joined his cousin. Running out of the water in the same manner, pulling off his clothes, hopping from one foot to the other, beating himself with his shirt, etc. I was sure they had both been out in the sun too long, or had saltwater poisioning or something. At any rate, I started slowly making my way down the beach away from them, all the while looking for an ascape route. Just about then, my legs started to burn. As I was somewhat distracted by the scene unfolding on the beach, I only absentmindedly scratched at them at first. Then my whole lower body started to burn. I looked down at my shirt, and there were about 100 small, white worm like creatures crawling on my shirt. I was immediately reminded of a scene from Aliens. Needless to say, I exited the water in the same manner as my young fishing partners, and did not hesitate to pull off my clothes and douse myself with alcohol. Upon looking closer at the tiny creatures, I noticed that they had pinchers, and they certainly knew how to use them. *Does anyone have any idea what these things were, and how to avoid them in the future?* I hope no one driving by was offended. They certainly seemed to accelerate as they approached, so much for helping out a person in need. LOL.


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## boat_money (May 21, 2004)

dude!! been wade fishing forever and thought you were gonna talk about a little perch nipping at a leg hair. but dang, that doesn't sound lke anything i've ever heard of. you're not just trying to keep people off the 22 mm are you? j/k


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## fishomaniac (May 22, 2004)

Small, white, wormy, and pinchers? Could they be republicans?


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## Blue Water Ho (May 21, 2004)

Well ya know they aint Democrats, cause their the slimy ones...................later,Dave


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## Skavatar (May 24, 2004)

could be some sort of juvenile crustaceans. any pics?


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## fishomaniac (May 22, 2004)

seriously though, could they be juvenile ghost shrimp? Darn, I just missed an astros score. Go Stro's!


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

*Sea-Lice*

Never seen um that bad, but once we got a few on us. We think they were small sea lice like you see attatched to Big Black Drum. Im not sure if its the same thing you are describing.


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

ok, you guys are worrying me. This really did happen, and we really did get the **** bitten/pinched out of us. Don't tell me any of you have not experienced the same thing ever!

In addition, if it were Democrats, I think they would have just sucked like always.

*All joking aside, does anyone know what they were ?*

No pics, sorry. we were otherwised occupied at the time.


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## Sponge (Jun 22, 2004)

*Worms*

I had a similar experience a long time ago but I really can't remember exactly what they looked like or what they were...I was also wade fishing the surf at PINS...I don't remember them pinching me more like tickling.


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## FishinTheBarge (May 21, 2004)

*I guessed maybe some type of fireworm but.......*

I talked with the benthic lab, here at work, and this is what she guessed.

"Doesn't sound to me like a fireworm either, they're not supposed to have
jaws. My best guess is that these were freshly hatched young from some type
of nearshore polychaete. Possibly a nereid, a glycerid, or a lumbrinerid.
These all grow to have fairly large sets of pincher-like jaws, and are
mostly white even when they are adults. The only thing is I've held live
ones before and they don't try to bite unless you really **** them off, so
it's hard to imagine people getting "attacked" like that. A more likely
scenario is that the little things were waiting to settle out of the water
column and when they hit these people they instinctively just tried to start
burrowing into them. Not intentional but a nasty thought all the same."


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## surffan (Oct 5, 2004)

Nereid or sea nymph good name for a boat now I just need the boat. Seriously in the mid to late 70's got into a something like that on Pins while in the surf at nite. But is was only a few and bite was more like a mosquito. Annoying but did not make want to take my clothes off.


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## Smallfrye (May 21, 2004)

The surf is full of tiny attack worms and Chupacabra is staring at you from behind the sand dunes. Call Hollywood !!!

and to think we pay for this privilege and dream of going back every chance we get ???


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## FishMasterDustin (Aug 11, 2005)

If u did have these so called SEA LICE how would you get rid of them?


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

I had a similar attack in Port Aransas in the early 80's. Me and my cousins all were getting one or two nasty little bites on our legs, arms, or chest (under our shorts and shirts). We went to the first aid station becuase our parents thought they were jellyfish stings, but the lifeguard said it was sea lice. Nasty little buggers, felt like somewhere between a po'd corn fed fire ant and a bee sting.


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## Drifter (May 23, 2004)

*To Bad....*

No one was there with a video camera! LOL That would have freaked me out. Glad everyone was ok. Hopefully the kids weren't to terrible scarred.

Drifter





JDS said:


> The last time I went surf fishing, we had stopped at a new spot at about the 22mm. We were up to our waists in the surf and had been fishing only about 10 minutes when my nephew ran out of the water yelling " they're all over me " ,over and over. He was also batting at himself with his fishing rod. Since he is not prone to acting like a complete lunatic, I was a little worried. I really got worried when he pulled off his trunks and shirt and started beating himself about the body. Just in case he really had gone crazy, I kept on fishing giving him time to run off into the dunes and get as far away as possible. Just then, my Son joined his cousin. Running out of the water in the same manner, pulling off his clothes, hopping from one foot to the other, beating himself with his shirt, etc. I was sure they had both been out in the sun too long, or had saltwater poisioning or something. At any rate, I started slowly making my way down the beach away from them, all the while looking for an ascape route. Just about then, my legs started to burn. As I was somewhat distracted by the scene unfolding on the beach, I only absentmindedly scratched at them at first. Then my whole lower body started to burn. I looked down at my shirt, and there were about 100 small, white worm like creatures crawling on my shirt. I was immediately reminded of a scene from Aliens. Needless to say, I exited the water in the same manner as my young fishing partners, and did not hesitate to pull off my clothes and douse myself with alcohol. Upon looking closer at the tiny creatures, I noticed that they had pinchers, and they certainly knew how to use them. *Does anyone have any idea what these things were, and how to avoid them in the future?* I hope no one driving by was offended. They certainly seemed to accelerate as they approached, so much for helping out a person in need. LOL.


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## stelvis (May 26, 2005)

FarmBoy, Did they look like this?: http://www.fisheries.go.th/aahri/Health_new/AAHRI/AAHRI/Topics/Newsletter/art2.htm


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## Sage8862 (Mar 30, 2005)

sounds like a good reason to fish from a boat to me....LOL


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

that's so gross. i wonder if OFF works on them.


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## Chris (Aug 2, 2004)

I experienced that same thing several years ago down at SLP. Not bad enough to strip down but I had to get out of the water for a while. I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I never knew what it was. I don't remember them leaving any whelps or anything and once I got out of the water and got them off of me I don't think the pain lasted that long afterwards.


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## cacciato71 (May 13, 2005)

I don't have a clue what you guys are tlking about. I am 34 yr old and have been at the beach since I was 6mo. Spent the entire summer there until the age of 16. I have never seen, heard or had anything like that happen to me or anyone else. I hope to GOD that I never do. If anyone finds out or knows what they are let me know so that I can avoid them at all costs. I would say that those DO NOT sound like any sea lice I have encountered or seen in 17 different countries arond the world. I would love to see a pic.


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## 8anbait (Sep 22, 2004)

Baby crabs we get that in Virginia beach in the summer time when all the blue crabs start to i guess hatch they get under your shorts kinda white in collor don't quite look like much yet but have two pinchers. When I use to surf about 10 years ago before we really lost are crab population use to get bad sometimes.


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## salty balls (Aug 12, 2005)

Had it happen to me and my buddy down in the 20's of pins. They looked like small white crabs. We exited the water in the same fashion you described. Fished from the bank the rest of the day. There were hundreds of them all over us.


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## BiteEmNBeatEm (May 21, 2004)

JDS Says: Ya'll have been PUNKED..........he's been fishing these past days on the 20mm with the best luck ever, fish just jumping into is ice chest....LOL


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

I did not realize this had come back up. I guess that this incident is more strange than I realized. At any rate, they did not look like the sea lice in the pictures. They were a bit more wormlike, and very white in color. I should have examined them closer, but was otherwise occupied at the time. I would throw a jellyfish, and a scorpion in on that description of the way the sting felt. Thanks for all the replies. By the way, I wish I was down in the 20's wetting a line but it has all been work recently. Good fishing, Jeff


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## rick p (Aug 23, 2005)

I really would like to say I am glad this happened to someone else in my lifetime. In 1981 I took my wife to the beach in Galveston for her very first time to see an ocean, she had never seen salt water, as she came from a small midwestern town. I told her my family went every summer, and that she would never want to leave the beach once she went. I watched her to see her reaction as she waded into waist deep breakers for the first time, after convincing her for days that nothing was going to eat her!!!
as she dove in to a wave, she emerged screaming!!! as she ran from the water, she was tearing at her bathing suit as if her skin was on fire, I rushed her to the beach shower room, where we discovered she had bites all over her, and a few hundred small clearish, almost white creatures attached to her,biting, with small black heads, the largest of these was about 1/4 the size of a pencil eraser, and they crunched when you squeezed them. they left whelps all over her, and she was sick with a fever for the next 6 hours or so. to this day we have never found out what they were, and she will not get into the water again, not even a lake. I would love to hear a seriuos answer to what these were.
Rich


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## PaulB (Jun 23, 2004)

Check the below link and see if this is what bit you.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php


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## rick p (Aug 23, 2005)

looks like them!!! would they be in the surf by the thousands, all balled up???


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Hey Paul thanks for the link. That really does look alot like them.

If it's any consolation to your wife Rich, that had never happened to me before, and has not since.


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