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Alvinella pompejana
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Alvinella pompejana
Alvinella pompejana, the Pompeii worm, is a species of deep-sea polychaete worm (commonly referred to as "bristle worms"). It is an extremophile found only at hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean, discovered in the early 1980s off the Galápagos Islands by French marine biologists.
Alvinella worms live in tubes and cultivate the chemosynthetic bacteria that they feed on. Their symbiotic relationship with epibiotic bacteria allows the worm to withstand extreme temperatures and conditions. The physiology of the worm and the internal chemistry help it to survive in the deep-sea hydrothermal vent environment. The Pompeii worm's physiology, symbiotic relationships, thermal adaptations, life cycle, and unique habitat are all characteristics that lead the worm to be able to survive in such extreme conditions.
The family name Alvinellidae and genus name Alvinella both derive from DSV Alvin, the three-person submersible vehicle used during the discovery of hydrothermal vents and their fauna during the late 1970s. The family Alvinellidae contains over eight other species, but none matches the Pompeii worm's heat tolerance. The genus Alvinella also includes Alvinella caudata, the segmented worm.
Pompeii worms get their specific name pompejana from the Roman city of Pompeii that was destroyed during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
In 1980 Daniel Desbruyères and Lucien Laubier, just a few years after the discovery of the first hydrothermal vent system, identified one of the most heat-tolerant animals on Earth — Alvinella pompejana, the Pompeii worm. It was described as a deep-sea polychaete that resides in tubes near hydrothermal vents, along the seafloor. In 1997, marine biologist Craig Cary and colleagues found the same worms in a new section of Pacific Ocean, near Costa Rica, also attached to hydrothermal vents. The new discovery and subsequent work led to important progress in the scientific knowledge of these special worms.
Pompeii worms are usually around 10 cm in length, but can reach up to 13 cm. They have a diameter of less than 1 cm.[citation needed] They are pale gray, with red tentacle-like gills on their heads. Perhaps most fascinating, their tail ends are often resting in temperatures as high as 50 °C (122 °F), while their feather-like heads stick out of the tubes into water that is much cooler, 22 °C (72 °F). The gills of A. pompejana are pinnate with many thin outgrowths. This organ is ultrastructurally similar to the gills of Terebellidae and the epidermis is irregularly folded inwards. This gives the blood access to a space very close to the skin of A. pompejana, thus allowing more effective oxygen diffusion. Secretory cells of the goblet type have also been observed, along with hairlike receptor cells known as bipolar ciliary receptor cells. The Pompeii worm's epibiotic bacteria are absent from both the gills and tentacles.
Alvinella pompejana has relatively simple organ systems centering around its rod-like heart. Its outermost organ is the gills along its feather-shaped head, four external gills present as leaf-like structures with a red color due to their hemoglobin. The heart provides blood to these organs using contractions, pushing blood along the dorsal and ventral vessels. Beneath the heart lies the animal's stomach which connects to an oesophagus that is used to consume food. Finally, surrounding the organs is a coelom filled with coelomocytes, a type of phagocyte that acts as an immune system for the animal.
Alvinella pompejana's blood is abnormally cool at 20-30 °C. This is due to their blood's high positive cooperativity at these temperatures, thus haemoglobin is more likely to gain oxygen, an essential feature in an environment with sparse oxygen levels. Additionally, A. pompejana's gills have the highest specific surface area of any polychaete and small diffusion distances between the circulatory system and external seawater further assist in oxygenation.
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Alvinella pompejana
Alvinella pompejana, the Pompeii worm, is a species of deep-sea polychaete worm (commonly referred to as "bristle worms"). It is an extremophile found only at hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean, discovered in the early 1980s off the Galápagos Islands by French marine biologists.
Alvinella worms live in tubes and cultivate the chemosynthetic bacteria that they feed on. Their symbiotic relationship with epibiotic bacteria allows the worm to withstand extreme temperatures and conditions. The physiology of the worm and the internal chemistry help it to survive in the deep-sea hydrothermal vent environment. The Pompeii worm's physiology, symbiotic relationships, thermal adaptations, life cycle, and unique habitat are all characteristics that lead the worm to be able to survive in such extreme conditions.
The family name Alvinellidae and genus name Alvinella both derive from DSV Alvin, the three-person submersible vehicle used during the discovery of hydrothermal vents and their fauna during the late 1970s. The family Alvinellidae contains over eight other species, but none matches the Pompeii worm's heat tolerance. The genus Alvinella also includes Alvinella caudata, the segmented worm.
Pompeii worms get their specific name pompejana from the Roman city of Pompeii that was destroyed during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
In 1980 Daniel Desbruyères and Lucien Laubier, just a few years after the discovery of the first hydrothermal vent system, identified one of the most heat-tolerant animals on Earth — Alvinella pompejana, the Pompeii worm. It was described as a deep-sea polychaete that resides in tubes near hydrothermal vents, along the seafloor. In 1997, marine biologist Craig Cary and colleagues found the same worms in a new section of Pacific Ocean, near Costa Rica, also attached to hydrothermal vents. The new discovery and subsequent work led to important progress in the scientific knowledge of these special worms.
Pompeii worms are usually around 10 cm in length, but can reach up to 13 cm. They have a diameter of less than 1 cm.[citation needed] They are pale gray, with red tentacle-like gills on their heads. Perhaps most fascinating, their tail ends are often resting in temperatures as high as 50 °C (122 °F), while their feather-like heads stick out of the tubes into water that is much cooler, 22 °C (72 °F). The gills of A. pompejana are pinnate with many thin outgrowths. This organ is ultrastructurally similar to the gills of Terebellidae and the epidermis is irregularly folded inwards. This gives the blood access to a space very close to the skin of A. pompejana, thus allowing more effective oxygen diffusion. Secretory cells of the goblet type have also been observed, along with hairlike receptor cells known as bipolar ciliary receptor cells. The Pompeii worm's epibiotic bacteria are absent from both the gills and tentacles.
Alvinella pompejana has relatively simple organ systems centering around its rod-like heart. Its outermost organ is the gills along its feather-shaped head, four external gills present as leaf-like structures with a red color due to their hemoglobin. The heart provides blood to these organs using contractions, pushing blood along the dorsal and ventral vessels. Beneath the heart lies the animal's stomach which connects to an oesophagus that is used to consume food. Finally, surrounding the organs is a coelom filled with coelomocytes, a type of phagocyte that acts as an immune system for the animal.
Alvinella pompejana's blood is abnormally cool at 20-30 °C. This is due to their blood's high positive cooperativity at these temperatures, thus haemoglobin is more likely to gain oxygen, an essential feature in an environment with sparse oxygen levels. Additionally, A. pompejana's gills have the highest specific surface area of any polychaete and small diffusion distances between the circulatory system and external seawater further assist in oxygenation.
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