Whales fall for all living things and nourish 12,000 species of creatures on the seabed. How many of them are bone-eating worms known?

mysterious whale, mysterious whale fall

In the blue and boundless sea, whales are the most massive creatures, and there are many mysteries on them that have not been solved, and even the changes of whales after their death are extremely mysterious.

Whales can leave the world in the most shocking way, rising to the sea or drifting to the shore. With a loud bang, the world's largest biological and chemical weapon whale explosion was born; they will also leave in the most romantic way and sink to the bottom of the sea to form whale fall.

Some people describe the whale fall as a thought of mountains and rivers, and a thought of a hundred herbs. Indeed, whale fall is the most generous and gentle way of death in the world. Whales are born in the sea, return to the sea, and finally sleep in the sea and hide in the sea.

Bone-eating worm accidentally found in whale fall

The whale carcass gradually sinks into the seabed, forming a unique ecosystem. In the scientific community, whale fall, together with hydrothermal fluids and cold springs, is known as the green field of underwater life in the deep sea.

Scientists have found that whale fall supports at least 43 types of more than 12,000 species of creatures, and also promotes the reproduction and evolution of deep-sea creatures.

Nineteen years ago, scientists in the United States accidentally discovered a whale fall near the bottom of Monterey Bay, California, at a depth of 2,900 meters. Obviously, this whale fall has reached the later stage of feeding, and the meat of the whales has been eaten up. Thick bones remain.

Scientists were surprised to find that a layer of red vine-like bone-eating worms was attached to the bones of the whales, like red hair growing on the bones, which fluctuated back and forth with the current of the seabed, which was very scary.

Bone-eating worms have rhizome-like mouthparts

Scientists had never found this bone-eating worm before, so they were going to collect some specimens to bring back to the lab for study. However, it was found that the "mouthparts" of these worms have been deeply embedded in the inside of the whale's bones, and it is impossible to pull them off quickly by hand, and these red worms will be directly pulled off.

Scientists smashed the bones of the whale with a hammer, and the "mouthparts" of the bone-eating worm gradually emerged. Its "mouthparts", like the roots of plants, penetrated deeply into the bones and continuously sucked into the bones. of fats and nutrients.

Scientists are very puzzled. The body of the bone-eating worm is very soft. How are these rhizome-like "mouthparts" without holes embedded in the whale bone?

Bone-melting substance of bone-eating worms

After research, it was found that the "mouthparts" of these worms did not have openings for swallowing food. It was like the root system of a plant. Scientists were the first to find a worm that resembles a plant.

Therefore, scientists speculate that bone-eating worms may be like plants, rooting and sprouting on bones. After finding whales, they attach to them, and then produce "bone-dissolving" substances, allowing their "mouthparts" to absorb nutrients in the bones.

After research, the block-shaped "mouthparts" of bone-eating worms are green, and a large number of bacteria are attached to them, and these bacteria have also verified the scientists' conjecture that they can produce substances that dissolve bones and help the "mouthparts" enter the inside of the bones. Absorb nutrients such as fat.

All female bone-eating worms?

Therefore, the "mouthparts" of bone-eating worms do not have openings, but they can absorb nutrients inside the bones like the roots of plants, and the root-like "mouthparts" of bone-eating worms will grow slowly.

At the same time, scientists also found that an organ appeared inside the block-shaped "mouthparts" of the bone-eating worm. This organ is the ovary of the bone-eating worm and a large number of egg cells. This structure is also connected to the red tube exposed in seawater. , the egg cells can freely transport into the tubular structure.

In addition, these adult bone-eating worms are all female. Don't they need the opposite sex to reproduce? How do bone-eating worms grow?

The secret of the bone-eating worm

After a series of observations, scientists have finally uncovered the mystery of the bone-eating worm. The larvae of bone-eating worms are only about 1MM in length and have no gender. In the initial stage, they will float around with the sea water, looking for whales.

If it finds a whale fall, it will quickly swim to it and quickly attach to the whale bone, and in the next few days, a red tube will grow to provide itself with oxygen.

After a period of time, "mouthparts" and osteolytic bacteria will grow, and the "mouthparts" will be embedded in the bones and grow slowly. After another period of time, the bone-eating worms all turned into adult female worms.

And there are thousands of larvae of bone-eating worms floating on the sea floor, and a large part will swim into the tubular structure of female adult worms, and then they will lurk there and slowly become male adult worms.

Until the female adult worm's tubular structure is filled with egg cells, the male adult worm begins to reproduce, and then quietly dies, completing its task.

The newly hatched larvae of the bone-eating worms will drag their egg shells out of the tubular structure, and these egg-shells can provide nutrition for the bone-eating worms, and they will continue to drift until they also find new whales on the bottom of the sea, And parasitic on whale bones.

Summarize

It is this special way of reproduction that keeps the bone-eating worms from going extinct to this day. So far, scientists have found fifteen species of bone-eating worms on the seabed. The vast majority of bone-eating worms die in the larval stage because they cannot find the whale, and the bone-eating worms parasitic on whale bones are undoubtedly very lucky.

However, due to the wanton hunting of whaling in individual countries and the pollution of the seabed environment, bone-eating worms may be on the verge of extinction. The picture is from the Internet, and it must be deleted if it is infringed.