Gutless Wonder: New symbiosis lets worm feed on whale bones

Deep-sea researchers have discovered an oddball worm that uses a previously unknown type of symbiosis to feed on whale skeletons—even though the worms have no mouth or gut.

WHALE BONE EATER. One of the new genus of deep-sea worms, Osedax, harbors symbiotic bacteria in the greenish, rootlike squiggles above its rounded white ovaries.