Hesiocaeca methanicola
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| Hesiocaeca methanicola Desbruyères & Toulmond, 1998 |
Methane clathrate deposits in the ocean floor have been found to be inhabited by polychaete worms of the species Hesiocaeca methanicola. The worms colonize the methane ice and appear to survive by gleaning bacteria which in turn metabolize the clathrate.
In 1997, Charles Fisher, professor of biology at Penn State, discovered this remarkable creature living on mounds of methane ice at a depth of half a mile on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico.
