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<\/p>\nWhen it comes to bizarre and sometimes deadly creatures \u2014 Australia can be the stuff of nightmares. <\/p>\n
But if you thought it was just giant spiders and snakes you had to watch out for \u2014 you couldn't be more wrong. <\/p>\n
Social media users have now been left horrified after learning about a meat-eating beach worm that hides under the sand on Aussie beaches. <\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/b>Brits are refusing to go barefoot on the beach over 'scary' fish hidden in sand<\/b><\/p>\n
The Australonuphis, also known as an Australian beach worm, can grow to be around 3 metres long and lurk beneath the sand surface at the beach, waiting for their next meal.<\/p>\n
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While they are often caught for bait, the worms have hundreds of segments on their bodies and sharp teeth.<\/p>\n
In a clip, shared online by a fisherman who posts under the username TightLinez, the bloke is seen using a piece of dead fish to tease one out of its hiding spot. <\/p>\n
Once the creature had latched onto the flesh, he yanked it out of the sand \u2014 revealing it to be almost fully grown. <\/p>\n
YouTube viewers were left so horrified by the clip that they have vowed to never go barefoot on the beach again. <\/p>\n
One person said: "I already wanted to stay away from Australia and now I want to live in another planet with no Australia."<\/p>\n
Another added: "Ok that\u2019s one place off the list."<\/p>\n
A third wrote: "Yep never going barefoot on a beach again thx!"<\/p>\n
"F***en beastly mate," a fourth added. <\/p>\n
There are millions of them on beaches in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and they are valued highly as bait, according to Fishing Australia. <\/p>\n
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However, sometimes scary creatures like this are a little closer to home as Brits are refusing to go barefoot at the beach after viral video showing a small but "scary" fish "unlocked" a new fear for viewers.<\/p>\n
In the video, which has gained more than 209,000 likes, a man was seen walking on a beach in Norfolk when he came across a small creature hidden in the sand.<\/p>\n
He mistook it for a harmless species of fish and stunned viewers as he tried to rescue it from burying itself in the sand instead of swimming away.<\/p>\n
But the species has since been identified as a weever fish, that has venomous spines on its back.<\/p>\n