© MBARI

A female worm (Osedax frankpressi). The greenish roots normally burrow into whalebone, while the pink tendrils sweep microscope males into her egg sac.

Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing, California, discovered a whale skeleton that was "carpeted with worms" while searching for clam beds in the trough of Monterey Canyon, some 3,000 metres deep.

news@nature 29.Jul.04