It's not every day you stumble across a worm the size of a small arm.
But that was exactly the discovery of nine-year-old Barnaby Domigan, who spotted the oversized invertebrate while exploring the stream's edge near his family's Richmond property in Christchurch on Thursday afternoon.
"It was epic, I have never seen anything like that in my entire life," Barnaby said.
"At first I had no idea if it was special if it was just a normal worm that grew too big, or something rare.
"I was quite confused."
He quickly rushed to tell his father, Chris, who posted an image on social media of his son with the intrepid find.
Using a stick to pick it up, Barnaby says the creature was heavy enough that his "arm became a bit sore".
"But I didn't touch it, I didn't want to get bacteria," he said.
And the nine-year-old says this isn't his first discovery along the water's edge, describing with great enthusiasm, that he once found a shopping trolley during a previous excursion.
"That was another interesting find."
"Exploring the riverbed is one of those things I do most."
Barnaby's mum, Jo, says the worm was over a metre long, describing it as "repulsive and just disgusting", despite her son's elation.
"The rest of the family were pretty grossed out by it, but he's very excited."
According to Te Ara encyclopedia, there are several species of native worms in New Zealand that can grow lengths over 30cm long. The longest, Spenceriella gigantea, can grow to 1.3m in length.
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