Biting worms invade coast to mate: ‘You may not want to go swimming’

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.

A mere year after US beaches started reopening post-lockdown, a biblical plague of biting creatures called clamworms has invaded the South Carolina coastline, prompting scientists to issue an advisory to beachgoers. “You may not want to go swimming . . . as clamworms do have a set of hooked jaws,” warned the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) on Facebook. “These animals that ordinarily live on the seafloor undergo an incredible transformation under new and full moons in spring – their bodies morph into reproductive forms called ‘epitokes’ as they swarm in coastal waters.”