Meet the #giant tube worm (Riftia pachyptila).⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ It lives in the deepest depths of the #ocean, untouched by sunlight, and thrives in 400°C water. Growing upwards of 8 feet tall, it bizarrely has no mouth, no gut, and no anus.⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ Yup.⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ It turns out, half of the giant tube worm's body weight is in an organ called the #trophosome, and it's filled with #bacteria (about a #billion per gram of tissue). Parallel to sunlight-powered #photosynthesis, these bacteria peform #chemosynthesis, oxidizing #sulphides pumped out by the ocean's #hydrothermal vents and using the liberated #energy to create #carbon.⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ So, basically, giant tube worms don't need to eat, since their bacterial #symbionts provide them everything they need, in a place where we imagined nothing could survive.⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ______________⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ Source | Volcanoes of the Deep Sea⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ Source | Dr. Meredith L. Jones holding a preserved sample of a giant tube worm. Photo by Harold E. Dougherty; Image from Smithsoni...