above is a picture of the Swedish species. Below is a scanning electron micrograph of the sea worm.
Here is another picture:
Here is what is know, so far:
Osedax worms are about 1-2cm in length.
A scanning electron micrograph shows up remarkable detail in the North Sea worm
They root themselves to the whale bones which they then plunder for oils with the help of symbiotic bacteria. The worms' flower-like plumes pull oxygen from the water.
There is a mystery:
Their reproductive system is extraordinary - certainly in the case of the Pacific Osedax.
"The female Pacific worms keep males inside their tube as a sort of little harem that fertilises eggs as they are released into the water column," explained Dr Glover.
"We're not sure what's happening with the reproductive biology of the Swedish worms yet. We've only got females; we haven't found any males. It's a bit weird."
Scientists have established that all of the Osedax species so far identified appear to be closely related to vestimentiferan tubeworms, which are found only at the volcanic cracks in the ocean floor called hydrothermal vents.
There is also a fly in the ointment. Since these worms live on whale falls (I. E. carcasses of dead whales that sink to the ocean floor) it is believed that whale carcasses act as stopping points that allow organisms to move around the ocean floor. If whales have low population numbers or are extinct this "island hopping" can't work:
What concerns researchers is that the commercial hunting which so devastated whaling populations would also have severely curtailed this activity by reducing the incidence of whale fall.
It may even have led to the extinction of some bottom-dwelling organisms that depended on this rare but concentrated nutrient supply.
