Vacationers beware Carnivorous animal is spreading on Italy's beaches

This animal is voracious and carnivorous: the fireworm is spreading in the Mediterranean thanks to the warm temperatures. The bristle worm is multiplying particularly rapidly on the beaches in Italy.

No swimmer at the seaside wants to come into contact with them: The fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) is a marine animal around 30 centimetres in size that feels at home mainly on hard bottoms and in seagrass beds. However, the animal can also be found in sand. It resembles a colorful millipede with white bristles - and they are quite something.

If you touch the fireworm's bristles, they penetrate the human skin and quickly break off. It is almost impossible to pull the bristles out. The fine spines contain a neurotoxic secretion and cause burning pain, reddening of the skin and swelling. In severe cases, it can also cause dizziness and nausea.

No cure in sight

Fireworms are voracious carnivores and can regenerate themselves. They have hardly any natural enemies and, according to experts, are reproducing faster and faster as sea temperatures rise. They have therefore become an invasive species that also threatens other marine life.

"We have succeeded in isolating an irritant substance, but we are still a long way from thinking of possible cures for stings," the "Krone" quotes Roberto Simonini, physicist at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

In the seas of the southern Italian regions of Sicily, Apulia and Calabria in particular, the fireworm has spread enormously over the past three years. Fishermen in the affected regions are increasingly coming into contact with the bristles of the fireworms. The wounds often have to be treated with cortisone. Alternatively, disinfecting the wounds with alcohol or vinegar can alleviate the pain.