# Zombie Worms

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-worms/653364>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 19, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-worms/653364 "2013-03-19T16:27:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-worms/653364/1 "2013-03-19T16:27:53Z")

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These aren’t some George Romero-esque threat to other invertebrates, but a relaively recently-discovered (2002) and named species of undersea worm that feeds off whale skeletons by dissolving the hard parts with acid and eating the remaining collagen and fat. News-writers can’t resist the name, or headlines like \*\* How Zombie Worms Have Sex in Whale Bones \*\*. Their more sedate scientific name is _osedax_ (“bone eating”).  
I found out about these from a news story about the discovery of a minke whale skeleton (“whale fall”) near the Antarctic. To my surprise, discoveries of such whale skeletons is surprisingly rare. Mybe because of the Zombie Worms, which would explain why we only found out about them a decade ago.

[http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2649-bone-eating-zombie-worms-strange-snapshots.html](http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2649-bone-eating-zombie-worms-strange-snapshots.html)

> **[How 'Zombie Worms' Have Sex in Whale Bones](https://www.livescience.com/27866-zombie-worms-sex-strategy.html)**
>
> Zombie worms are surprisingly diverse and widespread, considering that they live in isolated whale carcasses on the ocean floor. But the worms' sex strategy has helped them expand their reach, researchers say.

> **[Osedax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osedax)**
>
> See text.
> Osedax is a genus of deep-sea siboglinid polychaetes, commonly called boneworms, zombie worms, or bone-eating worms. Osedax is Latin for "bone-eater". The name alludes to how the worms bore into the bones of whale carcasses to reach enclosed lipids, on which they rely for sustenance. They utilize specialized root tissues for bone-boring. It is possible that multiple species of Osedax reside in the same bone. Osedax worms are also known to feed on the collagen itself by making holes ...

The article that got me started on this:

> **[Antarctic's First-Ever Whale Skeleton Found](https://news.yahoo.com/antarctics-first-ever-whale-skeleton-found-211259247.html)**
>
> For the first time ever, scientists say they have discovered a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica. Resting nearly a mile below the surface, the boneyard is teeming with strange life, including at least nine new species of tiny of...

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**Author:** ![applebetty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@applebetty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/applebetty)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-worms/653364/2 "2013-03-21T04:02:46Z")

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Way cool.

And “bon appétit”.