Giant pond worm please help!!

[vikkisunshine]

Hi all,
can you help?? We have a small water feature in our garden with a new visitor! It looks like a giant earth worm!! Gerald (as my children have named him) is about 8 to 10 inch in length and very happily lives at the bottom on the feature surrounded by the plants and alge. I am so sure it is an earth worm, but i know they cant live in water. I just don't get it! I have no idea how he got there, but he has been happily been there for at least 10 days as I have been keeping track of him, no drowning in sight.
What could he be??
Thank you in anticipation of your response.
Vikki

[Lord V]

Think earthworms can survive in water a long time as long as it is reasonably aerated. Think I would hoik it out with a spoon or something and put it in some damp leaf litter and see what it does. The only pink worms i see in my ponds around the roots of plants are about 2" long, pale pink and appear to be fairly flattened rather than round section.

Brian v.

[diggleken]

Sounds much more like a horse leech or medicinal leech to me ................fascinating creatures.
And, welcome to WAB Vikki!
Cheers
Ken

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by diggleken

Sounds much more like a horse leech or medicinal leech to me ................fascinating creatures.
And, welcome to WAB Vikki!
Cheers
Ken

A leech was my first reaction too!

[Action_Man]

Horsehair worm maybe ? ...

[vikkisunshine]

hello, Thanks for your messages, I have come to the conclusion that it is a large earth worm, I have taken it out of the water and made him a nice home in a large glass jar for a couple of days, just to make sure. so far so good, I am so amazed that he survived for so long in the water, amazing!
Vikki

[jaguarondi]

When I kept terrapins (in a greenhouse) I sometimes fed them worms. Often the terrapins would fail to see / catch the worms which would then wriggle into the gravel at the bottom of the aquarium. They could survive for 2-3 days in the water but longer than that I would find them dead.