A beach worm is a type of marine worm commonly found on sandy beaches and in shallow waters along the coastlines of Australia. They are sought by anglers to be used as bait for fishing. The three main species of beach worm harvested commercially and recreationally for bait in Australia are Australonuphis parateres, Australonuphis mariahirsuta, and Hirsutonuphis gygis. Beach worms have a muscular body that consists of hundreds of body segments and can vary in color from red to greenish on the head to a body of pearly white. They can grow up to 2.5 meters in length. Beach worms are omnivores, scavenging seaweed and animal matter that washes around in the drift zone of beaches. They are blind but have a very good sense of smell, and eat decaying meat, fish, and seaweeds that have washed to shore. To catch beach worms, anglers generally wait for low tide when the intertidal zone is exposed, and lure worms up out of the sand to the surface by washing a bait (often of old fish frames or pilchards in a stocking) in the water as waves recede.