SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Five live giant shipworm specimens [bbc.com] have been found in Mindanao [wikipedia.org], Philippines:

Scientists have found live specimens of the rare giant shipworm for the first time, in the Philippines. Details of the creature, which can reach up to 1.55m (5ft) in length and 6cm (2.3in) in diameter, were published in a US science journal.

The giant shipworm spends its life encased in a hard shell, submerged head-down in mud, which it feeds on. Though its existence has been known for years, no living specimen had been studied until now. Despite its name it is actually a bivalve, which is the same group as clams and mussels.

Kuphus shipworms [wikipedia.org].

Discovery of chemoautotrophic symbiosis in the giant shipworm Kuphus polythalamia (Bivalvia: Teredinidae) extends wooden-steps theory [pnas.org] (open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1620470114) (DX [doi.org])

Original Submission