Publication Date:
2004-08-03
Description:
We describe a new genus, Osedax, and two new species of annelids with females that consume the bones of dead whales via ramifying roots. Molecular and morphological evidence revealed that Osedax belongs to the Siboglinidae, which includes pogonophoran and vestimentiferan worms from deep-sea vents, seeps, and anoxic basins. Osedax has skewed sex ratios with numerous dwarf (paedomorphic) males that live in the tubes of females. DNA sequences reveal that the two Osedax species diverged about 42 million years ago and currently maintain large populations ranging from 10(5) to 10(6) adult females.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Rouse, G W -- Goffredi, S K -- Vrijenhoek, R C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Jul 30;305(5684):668-71.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15286372" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
;
Bone Marrow/metabolism
;
Bone and Bones/*metabolism
;
Female
;
Male
;
Phylogeny
;
Polychaeta/anatomy & histology/*classification/microbiology/*physiology
;
Population Density
;
Seawater
;
Sex Characteristics
;
Sex Ratio
;
Symbiosis
;
Terminology as Topic
;
Whales
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
