Worms are an important part of many different ecosystems. They do a great job at keeping soil fresh and healthy, and I’m told they also make a great meal for birds, fish, and other animals.

With so many different species of worms out there, it isn’t too common to find a new one, but that is exactly what happened recently.

Dr. Aida Verdes of the National Museum of Natural Sciences found a new species of worm that has a very cool talent. It can shrink down to one-fifth of its size by contorting its body like an accordion. Not surprisingly, this has gotten the worm the nickname of the accordion worm.

The worm itself is around 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) long when stretched out, and then, when threatened, it can pull its body together and get down to just 5 centimeters. You aren’t likely to find one of these worms digging in your backyard, though. This species was discovered off the Northwest coast of Spain.

It seems to live under rocks in the sub-tidal zone at a depth of around 30 meters (98 feet).

Dr Verdes wrote a study on this new species and published it in the journal Royal Society Open Science. He talked with IFLScience about his find, saying:

“The accordion worm belongs to the order Heteronemertea, same as Lineus longissimus, the longest animal on Earth, according to the Guinness World Records. When heteronemerteans contract their body, wrinkles or rings may appear due to epidermal tightening, but these rings are not regularly distributed as observed in the accordion worm.

Moreover, in the accordion worm, these rings persist as epidermal constrictions when the animal is fully stretched. Similar constrictions can be observed in a few species of the class Hoplonemertea, a different evolutionary lineage, therefore, they might represent a convergent anatomical feature shared between some heteronemertean and hoplonemertean species.”

When you discover a new species of animal, you are able to name it. So, in what might be the most romantic worm-related gesture of all time, Dr. Verdes named the worm Pararosa vigarae after his wife Rosa Vigara.

There is no news as to just how flattered his wife was at this, but we can hope that she was happy.

Thought that was fascinating? Here’s another story you might like: Why You’ll Never See A Great White Shark In An Aquarium