This viral video of a bootlace worm is being compared to the Marvel villain Venom

Chances are that not many of us have ever encountered a bootlace worm in our back garden as the sight of one would have probably scared most people out of their wits.

Lineus longissimus, to call it by its Latin name, is usually found in coastal areas of Britain but also in Sweden and Norway too. At a possible length of 55 metres it is one of the longest animals on Earth, is made up of mucus and is highly toxic to predators.

Here is a video of one of the worms that was share on Twitter on Thursday by a man in Saint Lucia, hoping to learn just what he had just encountered.

As we said, it would appear that not many people have encountered one of these creatures before as the reactions to this clip was mostly of shock and horror, with many thinking that is was the Marvel comics villain Venom.

Even the Venom Twitter account welcomed its arrival.

There were other suggestions beyond Venom but all were still pretty disturbing,

The viral video soon got some correct answers.

So, if you do see a bootlace worm on your travels don't be too scared but maybe don't pick it up either.