Minhocão (legendary creature)
| Grouping | Legendary creature |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Fish, worm |
| First attested | 19th century |
| Country | Brazil |
| Details | Lives in lakes, rivers, underground |
The Minhocão is a creature from Brazilian folklore that is variously claimed to be a large fish or to resemble a worm measuring 20 to 50 m (65 to 165 feet), even up to 80 m (260 feet) in length.
Descriptions
The Minhocão was described to European explorers and naturalists in the 19th century by locals in Brazil. French naturalist Augustin Saint-Hilaire described in December 1846 accounts of the Minhocão in the Padre Aranda and Feia lakes, with claims that they lived in the lakes and had "often drag horses and horned cattle under the water".[1] He determined 'Minhocão' to be an augmentative of 'minhoca', Portuguese for earthworm.[1] Descriptions related to him claimed the creature to have a visible mouth and that it "does not rise to the surface of the water, but that it causes animals to disappear by seizing them by the belly".[1] Other accounts claimed the Minhocão to be "a true fish provided with fins".[1] Saint-Hilaire speculated that the Minhocão described to him may be a large species of South American lungfish.[1]
It was also reported in an article in a German scientific journal in 1878 by German naturalist Dr.
The Minhocão has been blamed, without sightings, for damage to local roads and the appearance of deep trenches that appear after long spells of rainy weather.[2][5] Claims of "a rumbling sound like thunder" accompanying its movement, led to suggestions that the Minhocão was simply being used as an explanation for seismic activity in the area.[2][4] This rumbling sound was also claimed to "presage a period of rainy weather".[2][5]
While scientists were generally sceptical of the veracity of these claims, in May 1878, Müller was reported to have claimed to be about to bring a dead specimen to Europe.[8] Interest in the tale led to a London newspaper proposing in the early 20th century to send an expedition to Brazil to attempt to ascertain whether the Minhocão existed.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e Saint Hilaire, Augustin (1849) "On the Minhocão of the Goyanese" in The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 123, January 1847, pp. 140–141
- ^ a b c d e f "A New Underground Monster", Nature, 21 February 1878, pp. 325–6. Retrieved 13 January 2019 via Google Books
- ^ "A Gigantic Earthworm". Cambridge Free Press. 2 March 1878. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c d e f "A "New" Monster Discovered in Southern Brazil". Worcestershire Chronicle. 2 March 1878. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c d e "A New Underground Monster". Northern Whig. 25 February 1878. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Untitled piece". Weekly Freeman's Journal. 2 March 1878. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "A Big Fish-Worm", Popular Science Monthly, vol. XIII, May to October 1878, p. 508
- ^ "London Gossip". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 May 1878. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Science Jottings". Illustrated London News. 17 November 1906. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.