Pictures: Glowing deep sea worm species discovered
- Published
Scientists have discovered two new species of deep-sea worms. This one was found off the coast of California in America, called “shining bomber”. Here you can see its bright yellow kidneys and purple mouth.
The worms, known as Swima worms, can be up to 3cm long and live in water nearly 3km deep. They’re also bioluminescent - that means they can produce light through a chemical reaction in their bodies.
Scientists think the black part behind the shining bomber’s head could help to hide its prey when it's eating it.
The worms were collected by the scientists and brought to a laboratory where they studied them under blue light. The blue light makes the chemicals in their bodies that produce light, glow bright green.
They’re called bombers because they drop tiny "bombs" to distract predators when they’re under threat. You can see the two green bombs on the side of the head. If the worm feels threatened it can drop the bombs and swim away.
The other new species discovered is called the “orange bomber” and was found near to the Philippines in South East Asia. Unlike the species found off the US coast, this species has orange blood instead of green.
In the last few years, nine different species of Swima worms have been discovered. This picture shows the species through the years with the most recently-discovered ones on the right-hand-side.