Not long ago, one of the most bizarre creatures this world has ever seen showed up in North Carolina. Efforts to describe it have evoked the strangest comparisons: like grass feeding on sheep, said one scientist. And that’s not stretching things much. The creature is in fact a tiny plant with a Jekyll and Hyde personality, one that preys on animal life a million times its size. It has caused massive kills of fish and other marine animals around the world. Though hordes of the little monsters could easily fit on the head of a pin, keeping a culture of them active, say its discoverers, requires about 15 fish a day. It’s really not like a normal culture, they say. No joke.
The discovery of this deadly little squirt has caused quite a commotion among marine ecologists; though they have long known the monster’s relatives, no other members of the ...
