Beachgoers in California were treated to the sight of thousands of 10-inch fat innkeeper worms, which look like ‘pink sausages’, stranded on the shore after a storm.

The fat innkeeper worms, informally known as ‘penis fish’, washed up on Drake’s Beach along the coast of northern California.

According to nature magazine Bay Nature, the non-segmented marine worms are commonly found along the west coast of North America and usually live in burrows under the sand.

A recent storm washed away several feet of sand from the beach, leaving the distinctively phallic worms exposed.

The burrows they live in are U-shaped and often used as shelter by other marine creatures such as pea crabs, shrimps, and goby fish – which is how the fat innkeeper worm got its name.