For centuries famous sailors and scientists just as worried and praised a creature, as they rarely saw – the ship’s worm. But now the biggest and mysterious cousin, Giant Shipworm (Kupa’s Polythalamius), has emerged from the dirty hiding place, and reveals a strange and unstable reality: Some organisms really look better when they are hidden.
What is gigantic shipping?
Despite the name, the worm of a giant ship is not a worm. It is a type of mollusc, which is closely related to clams and muscles, and in places such as the Philippines, Lagoon and the muddy bottles of Marsh, the lives deeply buried deeply at the bottom, the tusk-like shells. For years, scientists had only hollow shells to study – no one really saw a living test. That is, until a group of researchers in 2017 finally pulled one from the mud.
What he got was both attractive and uncertain.
A legend creature unveiled
The giant shipyard can be 5 meters high, making it the longest bit for science. However, unlike other mollusks that filter food from water, it depends on the symbiotic bacteria in the body to produce the animal’s nutrients. These bacteria live inside the ships of the shipyard and replace hydrogen sulfide – a chemical found in rotting organic materials – in energy. In other words, the giant shipyard breathes in rotten egg gas.
Does it sound strange? It gets strange.
When scientists opened the shell, they met a black, thin body, which was much thicker than expected and remembered the delicate image. The inside was filled with mud, and the creature was dull, foreign and clear, scary in itself.
Why it was hiding so long
It is no wonder that this creature remained a mystery for centuries. The giant shipyard remains buried under the mud, which is completely engaged in the shell. The entrance to the shell is sealed with a strict hood, called an opera sacrifice, making it very difficult to detect in nature. In fact, the only clue was in its existence long, tusk -shaped fishermen who sometimes raised over the seabed.
Even the locals who lived near these weird creatures did not know what was inside. It wasn’t until the researchers saw a documentary in use as folk medicine showed the shells that they were able to track one and make it alive.
The importance of search
Beyond the weird look, the gigantic shipyard is a scientific gold mine. The abnormal diet and bacterial ratio can create new insights into biochemistry, especially how organisms live without traditional food sources. In addition, studying how it survives in such a toxic environment can lead to the development of cleaner energy or to understand extreme ecosystems on Earth – or even on other planets.
A reminder that still has secrets in nature
Although gigantic shipping may not be the most glamorous creature, it reminds us how little we know of our oceans and their lives. It is easy to think that we have seen all this, but such findings show that there are still miracles buried beneath the surface, which awaits without disorganization.
So yes – gigantic shipping mats can not win any beauty spageant, and it may look more attractive when it is hidden inside the mysterious shell. But in science it is cheating. What means something we learn – and with a giant shipworm, still has to find a lot.
