Worms bask in extreme temperatures

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 versatile and do not normally occur above 55 °C. Here we show that a colony-dwellin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1998-02, Vol.391 (6667), p.545-546
Main Authors: Cary, S. C, Shank, T, Stein, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alvinella pompejana
Bacteria
Deep sea
Environmental factors
Humanities and Social Sciences
Marine
multidisciplinary
Polychaeta
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
scientific-correspondence
Temperature
Worms
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Summary: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 versatile 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.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35286