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Osedax mucofloris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Clade:	Pleistoannelida
Clade:	Sedentaria
Order:	Sabellida
Family:	Siboglinidae
Genus:	Osedax
Species:	O. mucofloris
Binomial name
Osedax mucofloris Glover, Kallstrom, Smith & Dahlgren, 2005

Osedax mucofloris is a species of bathypelagic Polychaetes that is reported to sustain itself on the bones of dead whales. Translated from the mixed Greek and Latin used in scientific names, "Osedax mucofloris" literally means "snot-flower bone-eater", though the less-accurate "bone-eating snot-flower worm" seems to be the form actually used. The species is found in North East Atlantic where it is abundant. Osedax mucofloris have special root tissues that they use to pierce into the whale bones found on the seafloor. Through computed tomography (CT) findings, over an 8-month period, a dense population of Osedax mucofloris had a maximum penetration of 2.63 mm, roughly 0.67% of the bone. Although the patterns and mechanisms of this piercing, known as boring, is poorly understood, there is evidence that Osedax mucofloris have acidic mucopolysaccharides in the mucus of their root tissues that aids in the mechanism of boring through bones.

References

1. ^ Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (2012). "Osedax mucofloris Glover, Kallstrom, Smith & Dahlgren, 2005". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
2. ^ "'Zombie worms' found off Sweden". BBC News. October 18, 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
3. Glover, A. G; Kallstrom, B.; Smith, C. R; Dahlgren, T. G (2005). "World-wide whale worms? A new species of Osedax from the shallow north Atlantic". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 272 (1581): 2587–2592. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3275. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1559975. PMID 16321780.
4. ^ "North Sea marine worm discovered". Natural History Museum. 19 October 2005. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
5. ^ Higgs, Nicholas D.; Glover, Adriana G.; Dahlgren, Thomas G.; Little, Crispin T. S. (December 2011). "Bone-Boring Worms: Characterizing the Morphology, Rate, and Method of Bioerosion by Osedax mucofloris (Annelida, Siboglinidae)". Biological Bulletin. 221 (3): 307–316. doi:10.1086/BBLv221n3p307. JSTOR 23080081. PMID 22186919. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
6. Huusgaard, Randi S.; Vismann, Bent; Kühl, Michael; Macnaugton, Martin; Colmander, Veronica; Rouse, Greg W.; Glover, Adrian G.; Dahlgren, Thomas; Worsaae, Katrine (2025-04-20). "The Potent Respiratory System of Osedax mucofloris (Siboglinidae, Annelida) - A Prerequisite for the Origin of Bone-Eating Osedax?". PLOS ONE. 7 (4): e35975. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035975. PMC 3338503. PMID 22558289.

• Sabellida