The heavy storms recorded in recent days in northern California have given rise to a strange phenomenon, whose images have traveled around the world: thousands of almost unknown animals flooding the beach of Drakes . The curious thing is the shape of the animal in question. A simple glance is enough to understand why urechis caupo is commonly known as penis fish .

This time it has happened about 80 kilometers north of San Francisco , but the phenomenon of the proliferation of penis fish on the beaches after a severe storm is not new to the Californian coast, according to Bay Nature .

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These curious worms measure about 25 centimeters and normally live underground, where the sand protects them from their main predator: seagulls. A kind of U-shaped caves are made that end in something like an outward chimney. The penis fish itself feeds on plankton by filtering the water it pumps through its body.

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