Halicephalobus mephisto
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| Borgonie, García-Moyano, Litthauer, Bert, Bester, van Heerden, Möller, Erasmus, & Onstott , 2011 |
Halicephalobus mephisto (devil worm) is a roundworm (Nematoda) thatlivesin a mine in South Africa at a depth of 0.5 to 3.6 km below the surface of the earth in water of high temperature, reproduces asexually and feeds on bacteria.
Type locality is a shaft of the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom . The type specimens were filtered from mine water, which was under high pressure and was hypoxic . In addition, the species was found in three other mines ( TauTona mine ) at depths of 0.5 to 3.6 km. According to radiocarbon dating , the water is between 2900 and 12,100 years old. Of the previously known living species of worm is the deepest in the earth's crust living multicellular animal .
It was named after Mephistopheles from Goethe's Faust .
features
The type specimens of Halicephalobus mephisto were 0.52 to 0.56 mm long after fixation . Their morphology is minimalist. The tail is relatively long (110 to 130 µm), the end is thread-shaped. The reproductive organs are on the right side of the intestine.
Way of life
The water in which Halicephalobus mephisto was found was 43 to 48 ° C and contained various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria . Three still living specimens of Halicephalobus mephisto ate bacteria, whereby they did not prefer Escherichia coli as is usual with nematodes in the laboratory, but mainly stuck to the bacteria living underground ( e.g. Desulforudis audaxviator ). The specimens of H. mephisto that were found reproduced parthenogenetically .
source
- G. Borgonie, A. García-Moyano, D. Litthauer, W. Bert, A. Bester, E. van Heerden, C. Möller, M. Erasmus, TC Onstott: Nematoda from the terrestrial deep subsurface of South Africa . In: Nature . tape 474 , no. 7349 , 2011, pp. 79-82 , doi : 10.1038 / nature09974 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nobody lives deeper ... , picture gallery on sueddeutsche.de