# What was this thing on the beach? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514 "2008-03-16T01:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/1 "2008-03-16T01:37:42Z")
With a poor, non pic discription to follow. We just got back from a week in Sarasota FL. At every beach we visited during our stay we encountered these things that I referred to rather maturely as Sea Penises. 😉 I couldn’t tell if they were animal or vegitable and since I’m not keen on touching dead things on the beach I never really checked. They were about 10" long white cylindrical objects with a bit of fringe or roots on one end, and when they decayed enough there was an inside that looked like a grey and black [puka shell necklace](http://www.wholesalejewelrybox.com/br41mar04.jpg) They were vegi enough to look a bit like a leek or limp celery, but then the rotting ones appeared to have some sort of skeleture. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/2 "2008-03-16T01:52:56Z")
[Sea cucumber](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumber)? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/3 "2008-03-16T02:08:58Z")
Whatever you do; [DON’T pick it up!](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/phil-harris-the-thing-lyrics.html)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/4 "2008-03-16T02:57:45Z")
I may not be following your description but the first thing I thought of was a [tube worm](http://www.ocean.udel.edu/deepsea/level-2/creature/tube.html). Sorry, my connection is running slow and I can’t find any better pics. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/5 "2008-03-16T06:02:09Z")
Were the “roots” limited to a small amount of the “body”? It could be an [amphioxus](http://www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/images/AmphioxusLanceolatus.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Jimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@Jimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/6 "2008-03-16T07:10:36Z")
If I had to guess, I would say a [Sea Cucumber](http://images.google.com/images?q=+%22sea+cucumber%22+%22sea+cucumber%22&ndsp=21&um=1&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&start=0&sa=N) . There are about a bazillion kinds and many have rootlike structures on their, um, heads. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/7 "2008-03-16T13:25:43Z")
It sounds like a member of the Vanderbilt University Football Squad…what? ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/8 "2008-03-16T14:44:11Z")
If they were washed up on the beach, maybe they were squid eggs? A bit further down on [this page](http://www.tolweb.org/Loliginidae/19422) there a picture of these long whitish tubelike eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/9 "2008-03-16T15:05:26Z")
My original thought was sea cucumber, but those pictures appear way too complicated to be one of these things, these were smooth and uniform in thickness from top to bottom. The pictures of the sea worms are closest to what these looked like. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/10 "2008-03-16T15:20:07Z")
Well, if it wasn’t squid eggs I would wager sea squirts. I don’t know if you have species similar to \*[Ciona intestinalis\*](http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/species.asp?item=ZD1170) \* in Florida, but they grow quite large (~10 cm) and appear like floppy penises/penii/(insert correct plural form here) when taken out of the water. That why we have the mock-latin name _Penis mares_ for them 😉 \*note that the link is to British waters but used as an example of the kind of sea squirts I’m talking about ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/11 "2008-03-16T15:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Kotick] penises/penii/(insert correct plural form here) [/QUOTE] The Latin plural is _penes_. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/12 "2008-03-16T15:41:58Z")
Oh god I stepped on one of the smaller ones one the beach on Ft. Walton (FL) and it made a huge popping noise, like a giant zit. Made me wanna vom. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/13 "2008-03-16T20:05:27Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] The Latin plural is _penes_. [/QUOTE] The normal English plural, FWIW, is _penises_. There are a few technical usages for which _penes_ is preferable, but either is normally correct; in common speech _penes_ appears affected, as if showing off pedantry. One instance in which -_penes_ is called for, however, is when speaking of more than one _hemipenis_, the double structure found on some reptiles. Since it’s pretty much a technical term, the only correct plural is \*hemipenes[/o]. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/14 "2008-03-16T23:58:15Z")
Penis coral perhaps? [http://cgi.ebay.com/Bizarre-Coral\_W0QQitemZ290212480250QQihZ019QQcategoryZ1469QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem](http://cgi.ebay.com/Bizarre-Coral_W0QQitemZ290212480250QQihZ019QQcategoryZ1469QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/15 "2008-03-17T03:44:59Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] My original thought was sea cucumber, but those pictures appear way too complicated to be one of these things, these were smooth and uniform in thickness from top to bottom. The pictures of the sea worms are closest to what these looked like. [/QUOTE] Ooh! I’m the closest? Do I win something? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/16 "2008-03-17T09:12:40Z")
They weren’t just the roots of some seaweed, like [kelp](http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-30/sea-kelp.html) or something, were they? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/17 "2008-03-17T13:59:19Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] They weren’t just the roots of some seaweed, like [kelp](http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-30/sea-kelp.html) or something, were they? [/QUOTE] Sort of, take those, make the body narrower and white instead of black, make the rooty fringe pale brown and you’re close too. I like saying rooty fringe. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/18 "2008-03-17T14:38:41Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] …in common speech _penes_ appears affected, as if showing off pedantry… [/QUOTE] Well, this _is_ the Dope, after all. What better place? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/19 "2008-03-17T22:12:52Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Sort of, take those, make the body narrower and white instead of black, make the rooty fringe pale brown and you’re close too. I like saying rooty fringe. [/QUOTE] Like [this](http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/934/40022307.JPG) ? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514/20 "2008-03-17T23:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] Like [this](http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/934/40022307.JPG) ? [/QUOTE] Nope! Man, being such a beach novice and given the prevalance of these things on the beach I figured this would be a no brainer. They were much thinner and uniform in diamater. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-thing-on-the-beach/441514.md?page=2)