From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Osedax
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Annelida Class: Polychaeta Order: Sabellida Family: Siboglinidae Genus: Osedax Rouse et al., 2004
Species
Osedax frankpressi Osedax rubiplumus Osedax mucofloris

Osedax is a genus of deep-sea siboglinid polychaetes, commonly called zombie or bone-eating worms, first discovered in Monterey Bay, California, in February 2002. The worms were found living in a decaying gray whale in the Monterey Canyon, at a depth of 2,800 m (9,100 feet) using the submarine ROV Tiburon. They have no stomachs or mouths and digest whale fat and oils through bacteria. They have colorful feathery plumes that act as gills, and unusual root-like structures that absorb their nutrition. Between 50 and 100 microscopic dwarf males live inside the females. Although the males never develop past their larval stage, they contain large numbers of sperm.

Osedax is Latin for "bone-eating", alluding to how they bore into the bones of whale carcasses to reach the lipids that they feed on, which are contained within the bones.

In late 2005, an experiment by Swedish marine biologists resulted in the discovery of a species of the worm in the North Sea off the west coast of Sweden. In the experiment, a minke whale carcass that had been washed ashore had been sunk to a depth of 120 m and monitored for several months. Biologists were surprised to find that unlike the previous discoveries, the new species, colloquially known as "bone eating snot flower" after its scientific name (Osedax mucofloris - a more accurate translation would be "slimeflower bone-eater"), lived in very shallow waters compared to the previous discoveries.

Craig Smith, a researcher in Hawaii, suggests that about half of Osedax species died out when 90% of the whale population was depleted by hunting at the end of the 19th century.[1]

• G. W. Rouse, S. K. Goffredi, and R. C. Vrijenhoek (2004). "Osedax: Bone-Eating Marine Worms with Dwarf Males". Science 305: 668–671. 

• Whale fall

• Press release describing discovery of Osedax
• BBC website - link to story about discovery of Osedax worms in the North Sea