Biologists discover two bone-eating worm species

WASHINGTON – Two strange new species of worms, without eyes or stomachs or even mouths, have been discovered living on the bones of dead whales in California’s Monterey Bay.

“Who knows what we can learn here,” researcher Robert Vrijenhoek said. “There are many things left to discover in this world. Some we find by accident … and some we find because we look in places that few people have explored before, as in much of our work in the deep oceans.”

In this case, it was a bit of both because the unexpected discovery was made about 9,400 feet below the surface.

Lead researcher Greg Rouse of the South Australian Museum added: “Deep-sea exploration continues to reveal biological novelties” such as this “remarkable” worm.

Vrijenhoek, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif., said the worms, ranging from 1-inch to 2 1/2-inches long, have colorful, feathery plumes that serve as gills and green “roots” that work their way into the bones of dead whales. Bacteria living in the worms digest the fats and oils in the whalebone.

The researchers named the worms, a new genus, Osedax, which is Latin for bone eating. Their findings are reported in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.