8/12/2004: Whalebone-eating worm

[Undertoad]

This is Osedax frankpressi. It's a newly-discovered species, and its job is to eat the bones of whales. (Thx elspode)

The full story explains that this tiny little creature exists only to feast on such bones, when the whales die, and are a part of the whole ecosystem that helps the whales decompose productively I guess.

According to the caption, This female worm, from the newly designated species Osedax frankpressi, has been dissected in the whale bone. The green tissue is where bacteria are found, and part of it has been torn, exposing the white ovary. A reddish "palp" captures oxygen for the worms and the bacteria.

How large is it? The largest female tubeworms the scientists recovered are about as long as your index finger and as thick as a pencil. What about the males? they live inside the females.

But it's more interesting to think of it as just another example of how weird, beautiful little things live all around us and we may not even know it.