Riftia pachyptyla– Giant Tube Worms- Galapagos
One of the first criteria of what we call intelligence is “self-awareness.” I bring this up because a friend sent me a short piece on a polychaete worm that, when put in an aquarium with a nudibranch and some other marine invertebrates, the polychaete was bent on escaping – to the extent that they ended up liberating the little fellow – because they figured it would be hopeless to try to keep it in captivity.
This wasn’t the simple escape reflex that even the humblest multi-celled organisms perform to evade capture, this was an animal that didn’t like where it was, and went looking for a more habitable place.
It is likely that this particular worm was adapted to specific habitat features – and not finding that in the aquarium, went out looking for more suitable digs. But what was remarkable about this worm, was that it figured out three different escape strategies before its captors realized that keeping it in captivity was going to be a challenge.
What is remarkable about this entire polychaeta class is all of the amazing adaptations they have evolved to inhabit our planet. From the lowly Eisenia fetida of which Charles Darwin said “not one bit of fertile soil on earth has not passed through the body of an earthworm” to the amazing giant tube worms that inhabit deep-ocean thermal vents. These critters can grow a meter per year, harvesting energy from the hostile chemistry of these vents, in temperatures that can exceed 300°C!
It turns out that the ocean is full of all sorts of these annelids – each one as amazing as the next. They can bio-irrigate the benthic habitat, bind the substrate together, and provide habitat for so many other ocean creatures.
So on this Thanksgiving, I express my deep gratitude to the annelid worms – who turn out to be much smarter than you might think!
