A genus of marine spoon worms (echiurans) characterized by a large spoon-shaped proboscis used for feeding on sea bottom sediments.
From Greek 'echis' (viper) + 'oura' (tail), with 'echiurus' being the Latinized genus name; despite the name, it refers to the worm's trunk-like proboscis.
Echiurus worms are deposit feeders that slurp up sediment like living vacuum cleaners—their spoon-shaped proboscis can be as long as their body, and they're so weird that when first described, scientists literally didn't know what phylum to put them in!
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