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Osedax
''Osedax'' is a genus of deep-sea siboglinid polychaetes, commonly called boneworms, zombie worms, or bone-eating worms. ''Osedax'' is Latin for "bone-eater". The name alludes to how the worms bore into the bones of whale carcasses to reach enclosed lipids, on which they rely for sustenance. They utilize specialized root tissues for bone-boring. It is possible that multiple species of ''Osedax'' reside in the same bone. ''Osedax'' worms are also known to feed on the collagen itself by making holes in the whale's skeletal structure. These holes can also serve as a form of protection from nearby predators. Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute using the submarine ROV ''Tiburon'' first discovered the genus in Monterey Bay, California, in February 2002. The worms were found living on the bones of a decaying gray whale in the Monterey Canyon, at a depth of . Anatomy and physiology Lacking stomach and mouth, ''Osedax'' rely on symbiotic species of bacteria tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whale Fall
A whale fall occurs when the carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor at a depth greater than , in the bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. This is unlike in shallower waters, where a whale carcass will be consumed by scavengers over a relatively short period of time. Whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration. Since then, several natural and experimental whale falls have been monitored through the use of observations from submersibles and remotely operated underwater vehicles ( ROVs) in order to understand patterns of ecological succession on the deep seafloor. Deep sea whale falls are thought to be hotspots of adaptive radiation for specialized fauna. Organisms that have been observed at deep-sea whale fall sites include octopus, giant isopods, squat lobsters, polychaetes, prawns, shrimp, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osedax Roseus
''Osedax roseus'' is a species of bathypelagic polychaete worm that lives at abyssal depths and is able to sustain itself on the bones of dead whales. The species is found in the North East Pacific. Behavior When a whale dies, its carcass falls to the seabed. Here it provides a feast for many deep-sea invertebrates. Worms such as ''Osedax roseus'' make use of the bones when only the skeleton remains. The worms produce a branching network of "roots" which house symbiotic bacteria which enable the worms to utilise the bones' nutrient content. This worm was first described from a whale carcase that fell to the seabed in Monterey Bay, California Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by a ..., settling at a depth of . Time lapse photography shows that female ''Osedax roseus'' were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osedax Frankpressi
''Osedax frankpressi'' is a species of bathypelagic polychaete worm that lives on the seabed and sustains itself on the bones of dead whales. It can be found in the East North Pacific Ocean. The specific epithet is named in honor of Frank Press "for his distinguished service to science". Description These worms were first described in 2004, after having been found on the carcase of a gray whale in Monterey Canyon, off the coast of California, at a depth of . When seen on a whale carcase, ''O. frankpressi'' has a pinkish trunk with a tuft of red and white plumes on the tip, somewhat resembling a flower. Hidden below the surface of the carcase are greenish root-like structures and white ovaries. Like other species of ''Osedax'', these worms have no mouth and no gut. Ecology The death of a whale, or any substantial carcase that falls to the seabed, provides an abundant nutritional opportunity for organisms living in the depths and otherwise dependent on marine snow. ''Osedax frankp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siboglinid
Siboglinidae is a family of polychaete annelid worms whose members made up the former phyla Pogonophora and Vestimentifera (the giant tube worms). The family is composed of about 100 species of vermiform creatures which live in thin tubes buried in sediments (Pogonophora) or in tubes attached to hard substratum (Vestimentifera) at ocean depths ranging from . They can also be found in association with hydrothermal vents, methane seeps, sunken plant material, and whale carcasses. The first specimen was dredged from the waters of what is now Indonesia in 1900. These specimens were given to French zoologist Maurice Caullery, who studied them for nearly 50 years. Anatomy Most siboglinids are less than in diameter, but in length. They inhabit tubular structures composed of chitin and fixed to rocks or substrate. The tubes are often clustered together in large colonies. Their bodies are divided into four regions. The anterior end is called the cephalic lobe, which bears from one to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. MBARI was founded in 1987 by David Packard, and is primarily funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Christopher Scholin serves as the institute's president and chief executive officer, managing a work force of approximately 220 scientists, engineers, and operations and administrative staff. At MBARI, scientists and engineers work together to develop new tools and methods for studying the ocean. Long-term funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation allows the institute to take on studies that traditional granting institutions may be reluctant to sponsor. Part of David Packard's charge for MBARI was to "Take risks. Ask big questions. Don't be afraid to make mistakes; if you don't make mistakes, you're not reaching far enough." MBARI's campus in Moss Landing is located near the center of Monterey Bay, at the head of the Monterey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm (''Arenicola marina'') and the Alitta virens, sandworm or Alitta succinea, clam worm ''Alitta''. Polychaetes as a class are robust and widespread, with species that live in the coldest ocean temperatures of the abyssal plain, to forms which tolerate the extremely high temperatures near hydrothermal vents. Polychaetes occur throughout the Earth's oceans at all depths, from forms that live as plankton near the surface, to a 2- to 3-cm specimen (still unclassified) observed by the robot ocean probe Nereus (underwater vehicle), ''Nereus'' at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plotopteridae
Plotopteridae is an extinct family of flightless seabirds with uncertain placement, generally considered as member of order Suliformes. They exhibited remarkable convergent evolution with the penguins, particularly with the now extinct giant penguins. That they lived in the North Pacific, the other side of the world from the penguins, has led to them being described at times as the Northern Hemisphere's penguins, though they were not closely related. More recent studies have shown, however, that the shoulder-girdle, forelimb and sternum of plotopterids differ significantly from those of penguins, so comparisons in terms of function may not be entirely accurate. Plotopterids are regarded as closely related to Anhingidae (darters) and Phalacrocoracidae (cormorants). On the other hand, there is a theory that this group may have a common ancestor with penguins due to the similarity of forelimb and brain morphology. However, the endocast morphology of stem group Sphenisciformes differ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taphonomy
Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere. The term taphomorph is used to describe fossil structures that represent poorly-preserved, deteriorated remains of a mixture of taxonomic groups, rather than of a single one. Description Taphonomic phenomena are grouped into two phases: biostratinomy, events that occur between death of the organism and the burial; and diagenesis, events that occur after the burial. Since Efremov's definition, taphonomy has expanded to include the fossilization of organic and inorganic materials through both cultural and environmental influences. This is a multidisciplinary concept and is used in slightly different contexts throughout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area.Brown University, "Biogeography." Accessed February 24, 2014. . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms. Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors, as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, palaeontology, and climatology.Dansereau, Pierre. 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceanospirillales
The Oceanospirillales are an order of Pseudomonadota with ten families. Description Bacteria in the ''Oceanospirillales'' are metabolically and morphologically diverse, with some able to grow in the presence of oxygen and others requiring an anaerobic environment. Members of the ''Oceanospirillales'' can be halotolerant or halophilic and require high salt concentrations to grow. While they grow in diverse niches, all ''Oceanospirillales'' derive their energy from the breakdown of various organic products. Bacteria in the ''Oceanospirillales'' are motile except for those in the genus ''Alcanivorax''. Bacteria in the ''Oceanospirillales'' include hydrocarbon-degrading groups such as ''Oleispira antarctica'', ''Thalassolituus oleivorans'', and ''Oleiphilus messinensis'' , which were found in the indigenous microbial community in deep waters after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. They are also common members of bacterial communities in the water column of the hadal The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minke Whale
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish naturalist Otto Fabricius in 1780, who assumed it must be an already known species and assigned his specimen to ''Balaena rostrata'', a name given to the northern bottlenose whale by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1776. In 1804, Bernard Germain de Lacépède described a juvenile specimen of ''Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata''. The name is a partial translation of Norwegian ''minkehval'', possibly after a Norwegian whaler named Meincke, who mistook a northern minke whale for a blue whale. Taxonomy Most modern classifications split the minke whale into two species; * Common minke whale or northern minke whale (''Balaenoptera acutorostrata'') :and *Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis''). Taxonomists further categ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridgetunnel across the Öresund. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of , with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden has a nature dominated by forests and a large amount of lakes, including some of the largest in Europe. Many long rivers run from the Scandes range through the landscape, primarily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
