Senin, 02 Juli 2012

Bone-eating worms dissolve their food by spitting acid

Bone-eating worms dissolve their food by spitting acid

  • Unique 'bio weapon' lets tiny worms dissolve skeletons
  • Gruesome undersea creatures devour whales - but have no mouths

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 10:36 EST, 2 July 2012 | UPDATED: 10:36 EST, 2 July 2012

Gruesome undersea worms which eat whale skeletons release bone-melting acid from their mouths.

The tiny Osedax worms live inside the carcasses of dead whales, but biologists were puzzled as to how they could break down bones - the worms have no mouths.

University of San Diego scientists found that the worms had an enzyme that secretes a bone-melting acid - which is concentrated on the part that digs into their 'food'.

The tiny Osedax worms live inside the carcasses of dead whales - and eat their bones

The tiny Osedax worms live inside the carcasses of dead whales - and eat their bones

'Melting' the bones releases fat and oil, which are digested by bacteria that lives inside the worm.

Only the females are equipped with this terrifying 'bio weapon' - the males are tiny, and each female is surrounded by a 'harem' of them inside a gelatinous tube.

Siboglinidae or 'beard worms' are among the few known animals that, as adults, completely lack a mouth, gut and anus, and rely entirely on esymbiotic bacteria for their nutrition.

Found eastern and western Pacific and the north Atlantic, Osedax are unique because they penetrate and digest bones using bacteria housed in a complex branching ‘root’ system.

Only the females are equipped with this terrifying 'bio weapon' - the males are tiny, and each female is surrounded by a 'harem' of them inside a gelatinous tube

Only the females are equipped with this terrifying 'bio weapon' - the males are tiny, and each female is surrounded by a 'harem' of them inside a gelatinous tube



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Acid Spitting....bone melting...sounds JUST like my ex. ( which is part of the reason as to WHY she's my ex ).

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"Gruesome undersea worms which eat whale skeletons release bone-melting acid from their mouths. The tiny Osedax worms live inside the carcasses of dead whales, but biologists were puzzled as to how they could break down bones - the worms have no mouths." Okay, you DM Dopes, which is it? How do these worms emit acid from mouths they don't have???????

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Another quality photoshop picture from DM!

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They have an enemy,the Sigourney Weaver Crab,with its tough exo-skeleton and huge claws.With no mouths no one in deep water can hear the worms scream.

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Kipling was right ! The female of the species.....

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If you change the wording a little you have described a human's digestive system.

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