Page 53 - It Can't Be True! Animals! - Unbelievable Facts About Amazing Animals (DK)

UNBELIEVABLE BODIES 53
What is the

longest animal?

Beneath the chilly waters of Britain’s North

Sea coast lives the longest creature on Earth.

The bootlace worm is a wriggly whopper,

measuring up to 60 m (197 ft) in length.

A member of the ribbon worm family, the
bootlace worm makes most other marine life look
small, growing almost twice as long as the blue
50 m (164 ft)
whale. It produces a powerful toxic mucus to kill
crustaceans, but is unlikely to harm humans.
The bootlace worm is less
than 1 cm ( ⁄2 in) across –
1
about the same width FAST FACTS
as a flat noodle.

The dwarf lanternshark
is the world’s smallest
shark. With the
largest specimen
measuring only
20 cm (8 in),
most are shorter
than an adult’s
hand is long.

18 cm (7 in)

The world’s smallest jellyfish is Šivickis’
Irukandji. Despite having a maximum bell
height of only 1.2 cm ( ⁄2 in) – the size of
1
a jelly bean – it is highly venomous.

The
bootlace worm
is 10 m (33 ft)
longer than an
Olympic pool. Jelly bean
Šivickis’
Irukandji jellyfish

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