Photo credit: Greg Rouse and Avery Hiley
Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego have discovered new ‘Elvis worms’, named for their scales that sparkle at 13,000-feet underwater on the deep-sea floor. They typically feed on on chemical-harnessing bacteria that grow on all these habitats using their jaws, which is used to graze bacteria.
These worms, also known as Peinaleopolynoe elvisi, can be found in the Pescadero basin in the Gulf of California hidden away in hydrothermal vents. Initially, it was assumed that they were multiple species, each with their own color, but after several genetic tests of the hungry scale-worms, they turned out to be a single species. Just be glad that this worm looks nothing like this flashing zombie snail, which looks like something straight out of a cartoon or horror movie.
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We do think they’re bacteriovores. It was a piece of the puzzle that we didn’t know for a long time. We are starting to see some weird things on a genetic level with these deep-sea worms,” said Avery Hiley, a graduate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
