Scripps Scientists Find New Deep-Sea Species - Worms That Lob Their Own Bioluminescent Body Parts

[hatrack]

n the ocean's depths strange things dwell: angler fish with a bioluminescent light above its head to attract prey, the gulper eel with an oversized mouth, the giant isopod which scurries on the ocean floor for food, and the vampire squid which has the ability to turn is bioluminescence on and off. Now scientists have just added to this list of oddities.

Researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have announced in Science the discovery of seven new species of deep sea worms, five of which drop orb-like parts of their body which cause a brilliant green display of bioluminescence. For this reason researchers have nicknamed them the ‘green bombers’. The worms are not just new species, but a clade of animals entirely unknown to science until now.

The worms live at depths between 1,800 and 3,700 meters (5,900 and 12,140 feet) and like most species at this depth are not big, ranging from 18-93 millimeters (0.7 to 3.6 inches). They are mostly transparent, and move themselves around with fans of bristles.

The 'bombs' are fluid-filled spheres which burst into light when thrown from the animal, causing an intense glow for a few seconds. Once used, the worms are able to regenerate new bombs for later use. The researchers believe that the worms' ability to throw 'green bombs' off of its body may be used to defend itself from predators, such as a distraction, though no one knows for sure. "We found a whole new group of fairly large, extraordinary animals that we never knew anything about before," said Osborn, a post-doctoral researcher in the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps. "These are not rare animals. Often when we see them they number in the hundreds. What's unique is that their habitat is really hard to sample."

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0820-hance_wormbombs.html

[MineralMan]

1. Pretty cool. I remember watching my cat attacking a wiggling

lizard tail while the lizard made its way up a fence. Stupid cat never did figure it out.

[phantom power]

2. Chaff-based attack countermeasures