Anal-looking ooze just sewer worms

July 2, 4:28 PMOffbeat News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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Underbelly of nature gathers in sewer

Warning: This story contains a video with potentially nauseating images.

RALEIGH, NC - That grossly gross but viral YouTube video of some extraterrestrial-like throbbing ooze reveals only a colony of unusual worms in a sewer, say experts.

There's some disagreement about what kind of worms they are, but they pose no danger to the public, experts say.

The video, however, recently named top viral Internet video by TVWeek.com and initially put out as some sort of all-anal creature, could cause some severe stomach churning.

After watching the video Raleigh Public Utilities Department environmental coordinator Ed Buchan said the messy mass is a colony of tubifex worms which can form clusters of up to one inch in diameter.

Not so, says Thomas Kwak.

Kwak, with a name that could really undermine his credibility, is a biology professor at North Carolina State University's Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

He says the clustering creatures are byrozoan, invertebrates found in both fresh and salt water.

Whatever they are, they sure look nasty.

Don't hurl into the keyboard.

Warning: The video below contains potentially nauseating images.