On Earth during the 21st and 22nd centuries, all sorts of beings that were helpful in the process of decomposition were used to create biofuels and control waste.
It makes sense once humanity moved into space, the process would continue as we learned how to check our wasteful habits and use local beings in different locations to assist us with this process.
When the Macerate Dragon Worm was first discovered, the first idea was to eradicate the things because of the threat they are to small shuttlecraft – those jaws are not there for show, and they made passing through the Macera system a nightmare if one had to travel through the asteroid belt between Macera 4 and Macera 5.
But then, people realized: the things probably loved space junk.
They did.
And, their waste was valuable.
Macerate Dragon Worms are the galaxy's naturally occurring steel mills: feed them space junk and they would recycle it naturally down to titanium steel, vanadium steel, or any other variety of steel that was involved in whatever they were fed.
Everything else they would digest, but not the steel, and it was a fine quality of steel they ejected.
Cost of recycling: hauling junk to them in a ship big enough not to be confused with the food.
Today, the Macera system is the largest recycling center for space junk in the quadrant, and its Dragon Worms are fat and flourishing and happy.
This fractal made in Apophysis 2.09 just required a bit of post-processing, adding a little more of its magenta to the ridges on its back ... I'd hate to get caught in that hooked mouth, but, I decided not to make this a story of horror because the colors were so pretty!