The golden sea mouse uses brilliant bristles to thrive in the deep sea
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2023
- It’s International Polychaete Day, and this dazzling deep-sea worm is the star of the celebration!
The golden sea mouse, Laetmonice, wears a coat of brilliant bristles. That flashy ‘fit has a purpose: protection from hungry predators. For most scale worms, those bristles, called chaetae, help with locomotion. But Laetmonice has specialized harpoon chaetae that are ornamented with fang-like projections, spines, or other hooked structures that make an unpleasant mouthful for predators.
We’ve seen the golden sea mouse with our remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) at depths ranging from 1,500 to 4,000 meters (4,900 to 13,100 feet). They’re especially common on the muddy seafloor at Station M, an MBARI research site off Central California. Laetmonice is a deadly beauty-they scurry along the seafloor searching for prey including other worms, crustaceans, and echinoderms like sea stars and urchins. They’ll even eat decaying material and dead animals they find in their hunt.
Laetmonice belongs to the family Aphroditidae. Nicknamed the “sea mice,” these scale worms are remarkably diverse and can be found in virtually every marine environment, from shallow sunlit seas to the inky depths of the midnight zone. To date, scientists have identified around 174 different species of sea mice across seven genera.
In some of these clips, you’ll see two red dots. Those are lasers mounted on the ROV to measure the size of animals and other objects of interest. The distance between the dots is 29 centimeters (11 inches).
Learn more about scale worms: • The ocean is bristling...
Video editor: Kyra Schlining
Science advisor: Karen Osborn
Music: Laetmonice by Catechism (cccatechism.bandcamp.com/) 
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Deep sea animals have the best names. Golden sea mouse. Lollipop shark. Dumbo octopus.
Precious lil baby
Gorgeous AND dangerous: my favorite combination!
Dangerous?
@@savagedabs8536 You're right - perfectly safe if you leave it alone. But if you're a predator trying to eat it, those lovely glittery barbed spines are going to cause a world of hurt. Pointy spike shapes, in general, are kind of a universal warning: Danger - Do Not Touch!
That's what I was thinking, anyway.
@LChalifoux I agree, and after a bit of research I found out they can sting you with bristles and that mouth would shred soft tissue. I assumed they could bite but didn't realize they can nail you with the bristles! Absolutely fascinating.
Anything but the bobbit worm
Such an interesting creature 😆
it looks like a party decoration
Ive never seen such a life
Majestic
She is cute
Морской огурец
What's the distance between the two laser points? Is this an average distance standard with ROVs and subs? Just wondering.
10cm, I think it's used with all ROVs
the video description says 29cm or 11 inches
@@alveolate oh yeah, weird. 10cm is the standard either way.
The lasers are mounted on the outside of the housing of the ROV camera, which makes them 29 cm (11 inches) apart.
@@MBARIvideo Thank you so much. ☕️😊🖖🏻
Tiger
It’s not a mouse.
It's a worm.