Pigbutt worms were first discovered in 2001 after being pulled up from California's Monterey Bay and labeled "mystery blob."

 

Image courtesy of MBARI, Photo: Karen Osborn/MBARI.

Joel Kontinen

This strange creature is known as Pigbutt worm (Chaetopterus pugaporcinus), It lives in Central California (primarily around Monterey Bay) and the Channel Islands. It eats marine snow (organic material that floats through the ocean) 

Some researchers believe these strange creatures may be in the middle of an evolutionary leap, abandoning the seafloor for the water column, This is Darwinian speculation, without proof of any kind.   

 Source:

Melissa Hobson. 2024. Pigbutt worm: The deep-sea 'mystery blob' with the rump of a pig and a ballooned belly | Live Science 27 April.