The Pompelii Worm

With as hot as it’s been this summer, it’s hard not to think about the heat! So just imagine spending most your time in temperatures over 100 º F (37.78º C). It’s not the preferred environment for humans, but for the deep sea Pompeii worm it is! Also know as Alvnella Pompejana, the deep sea Pompeii worm is found in temperatures as high as 176 º F (79.44º C). Alvnella Pompejana is one of the animals found to be living in the extreme environment of the deep sea hydrothermal vents.

Part of the animalia kingdom, the Pompeii worm is one of the most thermotolerant found so far. Pompeii worms can reach up to five inches (13cm) in length and has 5 scarlet-red feathery gills on their head which are used for breathing. Below the gills is a red stringy looking area known as the buccal feeding structure. The worm uses this area to gather the

chemosynthetic bacteria from the surrounding water that it eats.

Belonging to the class Polychaeta, in the phylum Annelida, the Pompeii worm forms a tube by secretion and lives on the walls of high-temperature chimneys found at the vent sites along the East Pacific Rise. The worm head sticks out of the tube into much cooler water of 72º F (22º C) to feed and breathe, while its tail remains in the higher temperature water of the tube. It is the tube structure that further classifies this amazing organism. The worm belongs to the order of Terebellida, commonly referred to as bristle worms. The Alvnella Pompejana family, Alvinellidae, is defined as the small, deep-sea worms as being prevalent to hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.

Life doesn’t start attached to a rock for new Alvnella Pompejan. This is important since embryos do not survive temperatures above 20°C. Pressurized incubators culture larvae which are then transported by deep-sea currents to new vents in a hibernation-like state. Once the larvae have landed, the warmer water triggers their developmental program.

Think that the environment is too extreme for the...