It’s the new Moby Dick.
An Australian freediver has social media in sophomoric stitches after sharing a pic of a bizarre penis-shaped creature on Facebook.
“It seems to bring a lot of happiness,” wrote Josie Jones, 48, above a photo of the oceanic phallus, which she encountered on the sea floor off Rye Front Beach in Victoria, Jam Press reported.
Not quite sure what to make of the sea penis, the oceanic explorer shared a pic of it to a local marine research Facebook group Tuesday.
Biologists were quick to point out that the marine “manhood” is in fact, a priapulida — a type of unsegmented worm that resides at the bottom of the ocean, Earth Life reported.
Named after Priapos — the Greek god of male generative power — the priapulan’s resemblance to a phallus becomes all the more evident given its penchant for discharging its eggs and sperm into the sea, according to Encyclopedia.com.
“We have over 160 species living under our pier,” said Jones, who cleans the beaches and local waters to improve the water quality for marine life.
However, while many of the comments in the group skewed super scientific, some snarky social-media users had a field day with the doppel-wanger.
“Even nature gets the urge,” quipped one Facebook funnyman.
“Where do you put the batteries?” joked another, analogizing the worm to a sex toy.
“Wow some marine animals are going to have fun with that,” said one social-media comedian, to which Josie responded, “You’ve got such a wonderful imagination.”
Another mistook the critter for a sea cucumber, a similarly penis-shaped invertebrate that’s eaten by Chinese epicures to boost male libido.
Of course, priapulida ain’t the only phallic fish in the sea.
Last year, a flotilla of penis spoon worms inundated a California beach, sending social-media users into hysterics.
It also spawned this gem of a Tweet from comedian Mark Normand: “Ladies, if you aren’t satisfied at home, remember there are plenty of fish in the sea.”
