Bizarre Bone-eating Worms Inhabit Whale Falls

Chuck1318 writes "MSNBC reports the discovery of a species of bone-eating worms that live on whale carcasses on the sea floor. The female worm grows "roots" into the whale bones, which contain bacteria that help the worm digest fats from the bones. The tiny males live inside the female, sometimes over a hundred inside a single female. Whale falls provide important oases of nourishment on the sea floor, somewhat analogous to the communities of life around hydrothermal vents."

Comments

hey..!

[J x]

sometimes over a hundred inside a single female

.. Hey I've seen that movie!

MBARI press release

[Chuck1318]

There are pictures and a detailed article here

Re:Live Whales

[dmanny]

While interesting, its doubtful. It is far easier to be a carrion eater than a parasite, at any level.

As a parasite on a live animal, the worms would have to contend with the immune system of the whale. Also, from the article, the normal appearance would have only a portion of the worm exposed including its gills. Since the whales bones are not normally exposed....

Also, these are large enough to be seen, evidently without magnification. See the photo in the article. Evidently these had not been noticed in centuries of whaling.

Still, discovering one stage of the new worm does not describe its lifecycle. Perhaps it is parasitic at another stage.