Featured Image Credit:Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
By Shelby Hoover
The Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Japan has succeeded in breeding a rare deep sea tube worm. This may only add to the zombie apocalyptic hysteria because the deep sea tube worm being breed is often called the “zombie worm”! Though, there is no need to fear, this worm does not crave brains but instead survives on the bones of dead whales fallen to the sea floor!
Zombie worms are a very rare deep-sea tube worm often found residing in the bones of rotting whales at depths of nearly 10,000 feet!
The particular zombie worm at Enoshima Aquarium was discovered off the coast of Cape Norma, Japan in the Kagoshima Prefecture at 738 feet deep.
The worm was discovered in 2012 by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
Since 2016, Enoshima Aquarium and the Japan Agency had been working on breeding the worm. They have found a successful method to continually breed the zombie worm and now have the deep sea tube worm on display at their aquarium.
So, why breed these worms? Why are they important? According to the Enoshima Aquarium, the zombie worm is “an extremely important living creature in helping us understand the evolution of life.”
The large whale bones that fall to the depths of the ocean floor are an important food source for a diverse ecosystem. The zombie worm plays an important role in breaking down the bones and consuming the remaining organic compounds.
Future studies on the zombie worm will also give scientists an insight on how carbon is recycled on the ocean floor. Scientists are only beginning to understand how carbon is recycled into the ocean through marine organisms, like the zombie worm, and how this relates to trends in climate change. In addition, scientists at the Enoshima Aquarium would like to pursue research in the relationship between water temperature and survival rates.