Cool Things About The Zombie Worm

• The Zombie Worm lives in the deep blue ocean and has several other awesome names including Boneworms and Bone-Eating Worms (I bet you want to keep reading to find out more now, don’t you?)
• Using a submarine ROV, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Unit was able to discover these interesting little worms during an expedition in 2002, so they are still pretty new to the human world
• Believe it or not (and you should believe it as I would never lie to you :)), the Zombie Worm does not have a stomach or a mouth yet they still eat

The Bone Melter

Yeah, we have to address that last point in a little more detail. How in the world can a worm without a mouth or a stomach for that matter eat? First I feel it is important to tell you what the Zombie Worm feeds on. Are you ready for it? Whale bones! That’s right, these toothless wonders actually live and feed inside decaying whale bones. Wait a minute? How could they possibly get inside of a whale bone when they have no appendages capable of drilling through the bone? This exact question stumped researchers for a little while until they discovered that these worms are able to produce acid that will actually burn through the bone matter. Just so you know the lack of mouth and ability to eat bone is how this creature received the name Zombie Worm.

How Do Zombie Worms Absorb Nutrients?

One more thing. Remember how I said these worms didn’t have a stomach? So how do they digest their food? Well, these clever little worms have developed a nice symbiotic relationship with a bone digesting bacteria. The bacteria digests the whale protein and fat and releases the important nutrients that the Zombie Worm needs in order to survive. Once these nutrients are released, the worms will use their colourful gill-like structures to simply absorb the required nutrients.

Make The Bet

If you ever happen to see one of these small Zombie Worms (they grow to a maximum size of 4 cm) turn to your friend and bet them that it is a female. I guarantee you will win your bet. Why? Because only the females have the ability to produce the bone melting acid. In fact, the males never reach maturity (a case can be made to say this about all guys :)) living their entire life as a 1 mm long larvae. Interestingly enough, these males never see the light of day as they remain inside of the long tube extending from the female. That’s right, there is a harem of tiny, juvenile males hanging out in that tube. I guess that is one way to keep your guy close.