Is the red worm poisonous?

Is the red worm poisonous? In fact, many people do not know what a red worm is, and there is also a doubt as to whether it is poisonous or not. In fact, red worms are Chironomus larvae, not other red nematodes or other creatures, and anglers often mistake water fleas, Chironomus larvae and red nematodes for red worms, so let's talk about whether water fleas, red nematodes and red worms are poisonous.

Water flea

Water fleas are non-toxic. Water flea is a general term for invertebrate arthropods, crustaceans, branchopods, commonly known as "red worms". It is small, oval, flat on the left and right, and only 1-3 mm long, except for a few living in sea water. It is the most common zooplankton in all kinds of freshwater waters. It is an excellent bait for fish. It is mainly used to raise goldfish. Individuals are smaller than millet and cannot fish through hooks, but they can be added to commercial bait. The goldfish raised by our ancestors have been raised with this for thousands of years, which has been proved to be non-toxic and harmless to people.

Chironomus larva

Chironomus larvae are non-toxic. Chironomus larvae, also known as blood worms, are widely distributed in all kinds of water bodies, and their biomass often accounts for 50% to 90% of the total benthos in water. It is an excellent natural bait for a variety of economic aquatic animals, such as common carp, crucian carp, dace, Sturgeon, herring, rice field eel, Loach, river crab, soft-shelled turtle and so on. It will not harm the breeding objects, because it ingest a large amount of organic debris in the water, but also has the role of purifying water quality. In particular, in the larval stage of many economic aquatic animals, Chironomus larvae are used as their main natural bait, so chironomid larvae are not poisonous, but because the creature grows in underwater silt, bacteria breed. We should pay attention to prevent bacterial infection.

Red nematode

The red nematode is non-toxic. Red nematode alias earthworms, water earthworms, etc., shaped like earthworm larvae, belong to aquatic oligochaeta, bright red or bluish gray body color, slender, generally about 4 cm long, up to 10 cm long. Most of them live in the sludge on the bank of the river basin or at the bottom of the river, which is dense with the sludge surface, one end is fixed in the sludge, and the sludge from the other end vibrates in the water. In case of alarm, it immediately retracts into the sludge. Experts believe that red nematode is not a parasite, although eating will not directly harm the human body, but because its own bacteria and its excreta can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, leading to diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms. At the same time, as an "indicator" of unclean water, its existence shows that tap water has been organically contaminated in the process of transportation. Red nematodes are used for fish culture, the most important thing is that the growth environment of red nematodes is silt, and the possibility of carrying harmful bacteria is much higher than that of red worms.