Zombie worm has no mouth - but it feasts on whale bones

Summary
Osedax, called "zombie worms", are worms that live in deep oceans around the world. However these worms lack a mouth, anus, and guts, but somehow they feed on the bones of whales and other deceased sea creatures. They were first discovered in 2002 when they were found in a whale carcass. These worms break down the whale bones by secreting acids; there are two different types of acid containing enzymes in these worms. Symbiotic bacteria within these zombie worms help them digest fat and other materials from the bones. The female Osedax are about an inch long, but the males only grow to the larval stage at one-twentieth of an inch long. Hundreds of these male organisms may live inside a tube covering part of the female. Their closest relatives live in deep sea hydrothermal vents and use bacteria to help them survive in such hot and acidic environments. These relatives lack guts and a mouth, too.

Relevance
We have learned about how many prokaryotes, mainly archaea, that live in very extreme environments on Earth, such as deep sea vents. These zombie worms live in deep oceans and survive off of whale bones. In class we also learned that extremophiles are very closely related to ancient prokaryotes, because before the oxygen revolution happened many prokaryotes lived deep underwater in many extreme settings. Osedax lives in pretty extreme environments and is related to organisms that live in deep hydrothermal vents in the sea, so it is possible that these worms can be related to ancient prokaryotes.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/48064322/ns/technology_and_science-science/
by Douglas Main, published July, 3, 2012.