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butthurt [soylentnews.org] writes:

Smithsonian magazine has an article [smithsonianmag.com] (clicking through advertisement required) about living things found deep underground. In 2011, several species [nature.com] of nematode, including the previously unknown Halicephalobus mephisto [wikipedia.org] were found [doi.org] (paywalled) living in water seeping into a mine in South Africa. The nematodes feed on bacteria, which are thought to be sustained by hydrogen, methane, sulfate, sulfur and nitrate. Monhystrella parvella, a nematode which can live only in salt water, was found [nih.gov] in or on stalactites, leading to speculation that the species went underground at least 200 million years ago when the area was under a sea. Multicellular life belonging to the phyla Protozoa, Fungi, Platyhelminthes, Rotifera, Annelida, and Arthropoda was discovered [nature.com] in biofilms from a mine.

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