Ice worms (also written as ice-worms or iceworms) are enchytraeid annelids of the genus ''Mesenchytraeus''. The majority of the species in the genus are abundant in gravel beds or the banks of riverine habitats, but the best-known members of the genus are found in glacier, glacial ice. They include the only annelid worms known to spend their entire lives in glacier, glacial ice, and some of the few metazoans to complete their entire life cycle at conditions below . They were discovered in a wide range of environments, which include level snowfields, steep avalanche cones, crevasse walls, glacial rivers and pools, and hard glacier ice. These organisms are unique in that they can simply move between tightly packed ice crystals. They utilize setae, which are small bristles found on the outside of their bodies, to grip the ice and pull themselves along. Ice Worm against Fingernail

The genus contains 77 species, including the North American glacier ice worm (''Mesenchytraeus solifugus'') and the Yosemite snow worm (''Mesenchytraeus gelidus''). Ice worms eat snow algae and bacteria. They live at zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), but if temperatures dip even slightly below that, according to a Washington State University researcher, the worms die.

Species

The genus contains 77 species. They are the following: *''Mesenchytraeus affinis'' Michaelsen, 1901 *''Mesenchytraeus altus'' Welch, 1917 *''Mesenchytraeus americanus'' Bell, 1942 *''Mesenchytraeus anisodiverticulus'' Shen, Chen & Xie, 2012 *''Mesenchytraeus antaeus'' Rota & Brinkhurst, 2000 *''Mesenchytraeus arcticus'' Bell, 1962 *''Mesenchytraeus argentatus'' Nurminen, 1973b *''Mesenchytraeus armatus'' (Levinsen, 1884) :*''Mesenchytraeus armatus armatus'' (Levinsen, 1884) :*''Mesenchytraeus armatus kananaskis'' Dash, 1970 *''Mesenchytraeus asiaticus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus atriaphorus'' Altman, 1936 *''Mesenchytraeus beringensis'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus beumeri'' (Michaelsen, 1886b) *''Mesenchytraeus bungei'' Michaelsen, 1901 *''Mesenchytraeus cejkai'' Cernosvitov, 1937d *''Mesenchytraeus celticus'' Southern, 1909 *''Mesenchytraeus chaunus'' Piper, MacLean & Christensen, 1982 *''Mesenchytraeus chromophorus'' Altman, 1936 *''Mesenchytraeus crenobius'' Timm, 1994 *''Mesenchytraeus diplobulbosus'' Bell, 1949 *''Mesenchytraeus diverticulatus'' Piper, MacLean & Christensen, 1982 *''Mesenchytraeus eastwoodi'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus eltoni'' Stephenson, 1925 *''Mesenchytraeus falciformis'' Eisen, 1878 *''Mesenchytraeus flavidus'' Michaelsen, 1887 *''Mesenchytraeus flavus'' (Levinsen, 1884) *''Mesenchytraeus fontinalis'' Eisen, 1904 :*''Mesenchytraeus fontinalis fontinalis'' Eisen, 1904 :*''Mesenchytraeus fontinalis gracilis'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus franciscanus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus fuscus'' Eisen, 1904 :*''Mesenchytraeus fuscus fuscus'' Eisen, 1904 :*''Mesenchytraeus fuscus inermis'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus gaudens'' Cognetti, 1903a *''Mesenchytraeus gelidus'' Welch, 1916 *''Mesenchytraeus gigachaetus'' Xie, 2012 *''Mesenchytraeus glandulosus'' (Levinsen, 1884) *''Mesenchytraeus grandis'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus grebnitzkyi'' Michaelsen, 1901 *''Mesenchytraeus groenlandicus'' Nielsen & Christensen, 1959 *''Mesenchytraeus hamiltoni'' Healy, 1996b *''Mesenchytraeus harrimani'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus hydrius'' Welch, 1919a *''Mesenchytraeus johanseni'' Welch, 1919b *''Mesenchytraeus kincaidi'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus kontrimavichusi'' Piper, MacLean & Christensen, 1982 *''Mesenchytraeus konyamensis'' Michaelsen, 1916 *''Mesenchytraeus kuehnelti'' Dózsa-Farkas, 1991a *''Mesenchytraeus kuril'' Healy & Timm, 2000 *''Mesenchytraeus lusitanicus'' Collado, Martínez-Ansemil, and Giani, 1993 *''Mesenchytraeus macnabi'' Bell, 1942 *''Mesenchytraeus maculatus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus magnus'' Altman, 1936 *''Mesenchytraeus melanocephalus'' Christensen & Dózsa-Farkas, 1999 *''Mesenchytraeus minimus'' Altman, 1936 *''Mesenchytraeus mirabilis'' Eisen, 1878 *''Mesenchytraeus monochaetus'' Bretscher, 1900 *''Mesenchytraeus monodiverticulus'' Shen, Chen & Xie, 2012 *''Mesenchytraeus monothecatus'' Bell, 1945 *''Mesenchytraeus multispinus'' (Grube, 1851) *''Mesenchytraeus nanus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus obscurus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus ogloblini'' Černosvitov, 1928b *''Mesenchytraeus orcae'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus pedatus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus pelicensis'' Issel, 1905c *''Mesenchytraeus penicillus'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus primaevus'' Eisen, 1878 *''Mesenchytraeus rhithralis'' Healy & Fend, 2002 *''Mesenchytraeus sanguineus'' Nielsen & Christensen, 1959 *''Mesenchytraeus setchelli'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus solifugus'' (Emery, 1898) :*''Mesenchytraeus solifugus solifugus'' (Emery, 1898) :*''Mesenchytraeus solifugus rainierensis'' Welch, 1916 *''Mesenchytraeus straminicolus'' Rota, 1995 *''Mesenchytraeus sveni'' Christensen & Dózsa-Farkas, 1999 *''Mesenchytraeus svetae'' Piper, MacLean & Christensen, 1982 *''Mesenchytraeus tetrapodus'' Timm, 1978 *''Mesenchytraeus torbeni'' Christensen & Dózsa-Farkas, 1999 *''Mesenchytraeus tundrus'' Piper, MacLean & Christensen, 1982 *''Mesenchytraeus unalaskae'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus variabilis'' Cejka, 1914 *''Mesenchytraeus vegae'' Eisen, 1904 *''Mesenchytraeus viivi'' Timm, 1978 *''Mesenchytraeus vshivkovae'' Timm, 1994 ''Mesenchytraeus franzi'' is a junior synonym of ''Cognettia clarae''. ''Mesenchytraeus megachaetae'' Shen, Chen & Xie, 2011 has been renamed ''Mesenchytraeus gigachaetus'' Xie, 2012 due to the previous name being preoccupied by ''Mesenchytraeus megachaetae'' Bretscher, 1901, a junior synonym of ''Mesenchytraeus armatus.''

References

External links

Seattle Times Article on Iceworms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ice Worm Enchytraeidae

Species

See also

References

External links