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tube worm |
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tube wormAny of numerous species of sedentary, solitary or colonial, marine worms that spend their entire life in a tube made from special secretions or from sand grains glued together. Found worldwide, tube worms range from less than an inch (25 mm) to more than 20 ft (6 m) long. The bottom of the tube is attached to the seafloor; the mouth and tentacles are at the upper, open end. The worm breathes through gills, the tentacles, or the body wall. The tentacles, variously arranged, are used to filter-feed aquatic plants and animals. Tube worms occur in the annelid class Polychaeta and in the phyla Phoronida and Pogonophora. Many, mostly unnamed, forms live in deep-ocean vent communities. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Clams the size of dinner plates that reek of sulfur, tube worms that grow up to 8 feet and ghostly crabs and eel-like fish share the narrow but surprisingly rich life zone around the vents. There, biologists found 60-centimeter-long tube worms, 7-cm dams, and other animals that appear to be the same species as those that previously lived at Rose Garden but are much smaller, says Fred Grassle of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N. And small forests of tube worms resemble lipsticks, with red "heads" that stick out from white tubes. |
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