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Worms bask in extreme temperatures

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Abstract

Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors that governs a species' distribution. Some highly specialized prokaryotes can grow at temperatures above 113 °C (ref. 1), but eukaryotes appear less versatile2 and do not normally occur above 55 °C. Here we show that a colony-dwelling polychaete worm, inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimneys, regularly experiences temperatures above 80 °C and a thermal gradient of 60 °C or more over its body length.

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Figure 1: Alvinella pompejana, the Pompeii worm, found colonizing the sides of active deep-sea hydrothermal vents (actual length 6 cm).
Figure 2: Temperature records of Pompeii worm habitat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, 19958, Delaware, USA

    S. C. Cary

  2. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, P.O. Box 231, New Brunswick, 08903-0231, New Jersey, USA

    T. Shank

  3. Diversa Corporation, 10665 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, 92121-1623, California, USA

    J. Stein

Authors
  1. S. C. Cary
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  2. T. Shank
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  3. J. Stein
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Cary, S., Shank, T. & Stein, J. Worms bask in extreme temperatures. Nature 391, 545–546 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/35286

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