Deep sea ‘zombie worms’ consume bone by drilling with acid

Earlier this month, we reported the discovery of a cockroach to eat the bones of Dead Sea creatures. What's the biggest problem? Considering how they do not have mouth and stomach, how accurately did they achieve this feat? But now there are new clues to the mystery of the sea. They use acid secretase to puncture the bone.

Discovery was discovered by Sigrid Katz of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego where he plans to announce her team's research at the annual meeting of the Institute of Biological Sciences. Katz's findings will be interesting to other marine biologists who are confused about the worm's bone supply technology.

The seed investigation reveals several strange features - including a strange observation without men. Ella Davies explained to the BBC that further investigations revealed that the male is still in a microscopic larval stage.

Strangely, these insects do not have mouth, intestines or anus, but they can extract nutrients from the bone in some way. This is because of the unexplained capability that researchers call "zombie worms", seemingly unexplainable consumption of bone without the need for mouth and stomach.

By analyzing the tissue of the worm, the team discovered that acid - secretase is abundant in the root attached to the bone. "Acid is secreted through the skin of the roots," Dr. Katz said.

"Skin cells in this area are very long cells, and at the upper end there are many [microprojections, it expands the surface many times so it can secrete a lot of acid," she explained did.

There are many more things to know about these worms. Most of them are in the North Atlantic Ocean near Swedish coast and the Pacific Ocean between Japan and California.

The image above is from BBC / Greg Rouse. Illustration Presented by: Robert C. Vrijenhoek, Shannon B. Johnson, Greg W. Rouse

Zombie worms do not crave brains: instead they want bones. Osedax worms of 1 to 3 inches (2 to 7 cm) were originally found in gray whale bones rotten in the deep sea floor in 2002 and their depth was about 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Since then, more Osedax species have been discovered: according to the World Ocean Species registration, there are five species. The zombie worm digests fat in the bones, not directly eating mineral bones. But their "eating" style is completely different from ours because they do not have mouth or stomach! They secrete acid from the skin, dissolve the bone, and release the trapped fat and protein inside. After that, symbiotic bacteria living in insects digest fat and protein. It is not clear how Osedax gets nutrients from bacteria: they may only digest bacteria, or nutrients are transferred to the worm in some way.

Five zombie worms (Osedax sp.) Were named because of the tendency of animal bone to break down at the seabed. Most of them were observed to eat whale bones, but they did not distinguish whether other debris is available. Because the zombie worm's skin produces acids that melt the bones, they can reach the fat and protein embedded in the bone. Without mouth and stomach, worms depend on various root systems. They implanted the roots in the bones, and the symbiotic bacteria rooted in the roots helped them digest the food. Scientists do not yet know how nutrients actually enter zombie worms.

Women's zombie worms are the only worm we see on decorative bone surfaces; male zombie worms are microscopic and live inside women. Hundreds of small male specimens were discovered from women's worms. Most polychaetes are small animals, but they are not Bobbit worms (Eunice aphroditois). This hairy worm has a length of 10 feet, which is much higher than ordinary humans. If this is not enough scary, the bobbit worm is an invisible predator. Almost all long bodies are hiding under the sea. There are five antennas on the head that fish and other insects feel like swimming. Cut in half. If it is difficult to capture live prey, it does not despise the removal of plants or other debris.