Vinegar eels can synchronize swim

Confined to a water droplet, nematodes displayed an ability rare in the animal kingdom

image of a swarming ball of vinegar eels

As vinegar eels (pictured) mob together, they synchronize their wiggling, which forms collective waves that cascade through the swarm.

Anton Peshkov

Trapped within a bead of water, thousands of tiny worms wiggle in hypnotic synchrony as they stream around the globule’s rim.