Mesenchytraeus solifugus
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Mesenchytraeus solifugus |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Mesenchytraeus solifugus is a black worm , about one and a half centimeters long and about one millimeter in diameter, which is only active at temperatures around freezing point . At a few degrees below it, it freezes. If the temperature rises above 10 ° C, it dies and the carcass begins to decompose at temperatures above 20 ° C. The color of his skin is a dark brown or black.
distribution and habitat
Mesenchytraeus solifugus lives in the ice of the glaciers (that is why it is also called the glacier ice worm) of the southern coastal region of Alaska to the coastal region of British Columbia , the Cascade Range in Washington to the Three Sisters in Oregon . As soon as the surface becomes shady in the afternoon, the worms appear on the surface, in the evening they can almost cover the snow surface. The population density depends on the location. In Alaska it is 100–200 per square meter; the record density on the Suiattle glacier was around 2,600 specimens per square meter.
nutrition
The worm feeds on microorganisms that live in the ice of glaciers, but can also do without food for two years. Its properties make it interesting for the US space agency NASA . She expects them to provide clues to the possibility of extraterrestrial life, for example on Jupiter's moon Europa .
Web links
Page about the Eiswurmforschung (Engl.)