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Science 30 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5684, pp. 668 - 671
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098650
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Reports

Osedax: Bone-Eating Marine Worms with Dwarf Males

G. W. Rouse,1,2* S. K. Goffredi,3* R. C. Vrijenhoek3{dagger}

We describe a new genus, Osedax, and two new species of annelids with females that consume the bones of dead whales via ramifying roots. Molecular and morphological evidence revealed that Osedax belongs to the Siboglinidae, which includes pogonophoran and vestimentiferan worms from deep-sea vents, seeps, and anoxic basins. Osedax has skewed sex ratios with numerous dwarf (paedomorphic) males that live in the tubes of females. DNA sequences reveal that the two Osedax species diverged about 42 million years ago and currently maintain large populations ranging from 105 to 106 adult females.

1 South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia.
2 Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia.
3 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA.


* These authors contributed equally to the work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vrijen{at}mbari.org

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Neptunomonas japonica sp. nov., an Osedax japonicus symbiont-like bacterium isolated from sediment adjacent to sperm whale carcasses off Kagoshima, Japan.
M. Miyazaki, Y. Nogi, Y. Fujiwara, M. Kawato, K. Kubokawa, and K. Horikoshi (2008)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58, 866-871
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Endosymbionts of Siboglinum fiordicum and the Phylogeny of Bacterial Endosymbionts in Siboglinidae (Annelida).
D. J. Thornhill, A. A. Wiley, A. L. Campbell, F. F. Bartol, A. Teske, and K. M. Halanych (2008)
Biol. Bull. 214, 135-144
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Acquisition of Dwarf Male "Harems" by Recently Settled Females of Osedax roseus n. sp. (Siboglinidae; Annelida).
G. W. Rouse, K. Worsaae, S. B. Johnson, W. J. Jones, and R. C. Vrijenhoek (2008)
Biol. Bull. 214, 67-82
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
AN UNUSUAL NEW GASTROPOD FROM AN EOCENE HYDROCARBON SEEP IN WASHINGTON STATE.
S. KIEL (2008)
Journal of Paleontology 82, 188-191
   Full Text »    PDF »
Genetic Diversity and Potential Function of Microbial Symbionts Associated with Newly Discovered Species of Osedax Polychaete Worms.
S. K. Goffredi, S. B. Johnson, and R. C. Vrijenhoek (2007)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 73, 2314-2323
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Migration, Isolation, and Speciation of Hydrothermal Vent Limpets (Gastropoda; Lepetodrilidae) Across the Blanco Transform Fault.
S. B. Johnson, C. R. Young, W. J. Jones, A. Waren, and R. C. Vrijenhoek (2006)
Biol. Bull. 210, 140-157
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)