A group of Spanish researchers has described a new species of marine worm that feeds on the skeleton of whales after finding the first specimen in Antarctica in 2010 . This new species of ghoul ( Osedax ) is the sixth to be documented, and differs from the previous ones in that it inhabits shallower depths and in colder latitudes.
The scientists, belonging to the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), baptized this new species of worm as Osedax deceptionensis . Their diet is based on the nutrients present in bone waste. The first specimen was found in 2010 and it was a 2-millimeter adult female that presented unseen genetic and morphological properties that augured the existence of an unlisted annelid.
The ghoul or Osedax was discovered just ten years ago and has particular characteristics in addition to being a scavenger. The females coexist in symbiosis with the bacteria in charge of degrading the matter that serves as food, and which they absorb through roots. The males, on the other hand, have microscopic dimensions and subsist inside the female, remaining in a larval state and fulfilling a mere reproductive function.
The researchers have also been able to describe three new species of worms, two Dorvilleidae and one Cirratulidae , which add to the 17,000 already documented species of these slimy animals.
