Found Worm In My Swimming Pool

by Lon J
(Dandridge, TN)

I found a worm in my swimming pool about 12-14" long x about 1/16" diameter, tan very smooth and a very small head, if at all on one end.

It was swimming in our in-ground pool moving around like a snake. I caught it in a net and put it on the driveway and stepped on it. It was wiggling very bad and I thought it would die.


About 2 hours later I came back to see if it was dead, and now it's black, flat, all wrinkled and brittle looking. I picked it up and it felt like there was nothing to it.


I put it in water to keep it from blowing away so that I could show my wife when she came home, and to my surprise, after being in the water for about 2 hours, the worm was now tan again and looked exactly like it did when I netted it in the pool.


It has been 24 hours now and it still appears dead, but for awhile I thought it was resurrecting itself.


Anyone have any ideas on what kind of worm this is? I feel sure it is some kind of parasite due to the small head on the end. I took a couple of pictures of the dead worm.


Worried to go in the pool.

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Hi Lon,

How interesting to find this unusual worm in your swimming pool. I wish you'd uploaded the photo so we could have seen it, too. Does it look anything like the photos I've added above?


It sounds like you may have captured a horsehair worm. They are parasites, but their natural host is insects or things like grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, beetles, cockroaches, millipedes, centipedes, snails, slugs, etc.


They live in the host until they can crawl out in water - as they need water to survive, just as you described. They then look for another host insect to crawl into. If they don't find one, they will die.


Horsehair worms are not known to be harmful to humans or pets, so you shouldn't have to worry about swimming in your pool. You can net them out or filter them out if you get more than the one.


Enjoy your swimming!
Angie