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Marine worms (genus Osedax) colonize cow bones - PubMed

️Tue Jan 01 2008

Marine worms (genus Osedax) colonize cow bones

William J Jones et al. Proc Biol Sci. 2008.

Abstract

Bone-eating worms of the genus Osedax colonized and grew on cow bones deployed at depths ranging from 385 to 2893m in Monterey Bay, California. Colonization occurred as rapidly as two months following deployment of the cow bones, similar to the time it takes to colonize exposed whalebones. Some Osedax females found on the cow bones were producing eggs and some hosted dwarf males in their tubes. Morphological and molecular examinations of these worms confirmed the presence of six Osedax species, out of the eight species presently known from Monterey Bay. The ability of Osedax species to colonize, grow and reproduce on cow bones challenges previous notions that these worms are 'whale-fall specialists.'

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Figures

**Figure 1**
(a) Deployed ‘bone tree’ adjacent to whale-2893 during May 2006. (b) *In situ* close-up from high definition video of *Osedax rubiplumus* and O. nude-palp-A on cow bone adjacent to whale-1820. (c) Close-up of the four palps from O. nude-palp-A showing paired blood vessels in each palp and absence of pinnules. (d) Dwarf (paedomorphic) males isolated from the tube of *O. rubiplumus* specimen shown in (b).

Comment in

On the role of bone-eating worms in the degradation of marine vertebrate remains.
Glover AG, Kemp KM, Smith CR, Dahlgren TG. Glover AG, et al. Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Sep 7;275(1646):1959-61; discussion 1963-4. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0177. Proc Biol Sci. 2008. PMID: 18505721 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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Marine worms (genus Osedax) colonize cow bones - PubMed