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Not whale-fall specialists, Osedax worms also consume fishbones
Greg W Rouse1, Shana K Goffredi, Shannon B Johnson
1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. grouse@ucsd.edu
Biology Letters
|April 15, 2011
Summary
Marine annelid worms, Osedax, are not just whale-fall specialists. These bone-eating worms were found to colonize and feed on fish bones, suggesting a broader diet and ancient origins.
Area of Science:
- Marine Biology
- Deep-Sea Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- The bone-eating marine annelid worms of the genus Osedax primarily inhabit sunken vertebrate bones.
- Existing research suggests Osedax are specialists of whale falls, limiting their known food sources to mammalian bones.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if Osedax species can utilize non-mammalian vertebrate resources for nutrition.
- To determine the dietary breadth of Osedax beyond whale and mammal bones.
Main Methods:
- Deployment of teleost (fish) bones and calcified shark cartilage at a depth of approximately 1000 meters for five months.
- Observation and identification of Osedax species colonizing the deployed bone and cartilage samples.
Main Results:
- Three Osedax species, also found on whalebones, successfully colonized and inhabited the teleost bones.
- Evidence from shark cartilage was inconclusive regarding Osedax colonization.
Conclusions:
- Osedax are not exclusively whale-fall specialists and can exploit a diverse range of vertebrate bones, including fish.
- This finding supports the hypothesis that Osedax evolved their bone-eating lifestyle in the Cretaceous period, predating marine mammals.
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