Giant+Tube+Worms

= By Alina Stoyan and Raven Bevers =

Riftia pachyptila, more commonly know as giant tube worms, live at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in hydrothermal vents. The vents give of gasses and fluids that contain highly toxic chemicals, at super heated temperatures. They prefer strong flowing vents where the vent fluids mix with the surrounding sea water. Not only can they survive the huge amount of pressure and complete darkness, but also survive wide ranges of temperature. The giant tube worm has a soft body. It lives in a long narrow tube, made of chitin, that attaches it to the sea floor. Its plume takes its nutrients from the surround water, and its amount of red blood cells gives it a blood-red color. These amazing creature dont have mouth or guts.They dont actually make their food or energy, tiny bacteria living inside them do! They get their food from millions of microbes and bacteria that live inside their body. Those microbes and bacteria breaks down chemicals, like hydrogen sulphide, being vented through the ocean floor into nutrients and energy for itself. This is called chemosynthesis and is similar to photosynthesis. This makes them able to live in the complete darkness, they use chemical energy instead of sunlight.

References Wildscreen Arkive: [|__http://www.arkive.org/giant-tube-worm/riftia-pachyptila__] Venture Deep Ocean; [|__www.venturedeepocean.org/life/tubeworms.php__] Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History [|__www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/featured_objects/Riftia.html__]