Bobbit worm, Eunice aphroditois
Besides looking interesting, the bobbit worm has an interesting feature. It’s hemoglobin is extracellular.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1164035/
Hemoglobin is the oxygen carrying protein in our red blood cells (RBC), i.e., it is intracellular. What that means is, unlike our blood, the bobbit worm has free hemoglobin; just floating around. That might not seem amazing to you but here’s why it is amazing. In mammalian blood, hemoglobin is protected from oxidation inside the RBC by many other proteins You’ve seen iron rust. That’s oxidation and hemoglobin’s oxygen binding component has iron. When iron is oxidized it can generate free radicals which are toxic. That’s why you hear people recommending anti-oxidant rich fruits/vegetables. When iron is oxidized and creates free radicals it is called Fenton chemistry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenton’s_reagent#Fenton_Reaction.28Medicine.29
Additional interesting info on the bobbit worm from Wiki, which is where the image is from.
Armed with sharp teeth, it is known to attack with such speeds that its prey is sometimes sliced in half. Although the worm hunts for food, it is omnivorous. It is also covered in bristles that are capable of a sting that results in permanent numbness in humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbit_worm
Edit Many invertebrates have extracellular hemoglobin. I haven’t had time to find out what mechanism the bobbit worm uses to project its heme from oxidation.
#ScienceEveryday
March 28, 2013
Great. A bloody worm. LOL. That makes me want to piss my pants! 🙂
March 28, 2013
How interesting, thanks Chad Haney !
March 28, 2013
You are welcome Jaana Nyström
Adam Iredale they are in the Mediterranean sea if I’m not mistaken but I think they are quite deep.
March 28, 2013
I have never thought I would ever say that Chad, that’s an interesting and beautiful worm! 🙂
March 28, 2013
Thanks Kawthar AL ABDALLA
March 28, 2013
I swear I saw one of those on Star Trek… Chad Haney
March 28, 2013
wow- that is so cool
March 28, 2013
If I saw one of those crawling, id kill it twice
March 28, 2013
uumm..EEEWWWWWWW!! :/
March 28, 2013
So niChe
March 28, 2013
rainbow
March 28, 2013
its amazing…
March 28, 2013
weird
March 28, 2013
so if its heme is extracellular then what compunds does it use to prevent the formation, or decompose the superoxide radicals? it must be doing something otherwise it would not live long
March 28, 2013
This is a creepy image that i will act like i never saw
March 28, 2013
Chad Haney , I thought free hemoglobin was a common feature in invertebrates? Aquatic insects have hemolymph that contains hemoglobins. Molluscs have free hemocyanins in their extracellular fluid. Am I missing something?
March 28, 2013
Frank Garcia I didn’t get that far in my digging. I did find that its hemoglobin is also less reactive to sulfur compounds. That makes sense since they can be found near sulfur vents on the ocean floor.
March 28, 2013
That’s true Rajini Rao I just forgot. When I was digging around, I remembered reading about heme in earthworms back in my grad school days.
March 28, 2013
Looks tasty!
March 28, 2013
I CAN TYPING!
Er, sorry. Carry on! I had no idea about the variety of hemoglobin arrangements – then again this is far from my field of expertise.
Wonder when this critter acquired its name — the wiki entry isn’t very comprehensive. Heh.
March 28, 2013
Always enjoy your typing Cindy Brown. I agree the Wiki is limited on this bugger. There are some articles I’ll check out later.
March 28, 2013
what?
March 28, 2013
what in the effin world is that. first was the hairy orange frog fish thing now this. another night to be scared to go to sleep lol… ugh night light
March 28, 2013
wooww
March 29, 2013
WWWEEEEEIIIIRRRDD
March 31, 2013
thanks for this information love this kind of stuff
March 31, 2013
Science is fun, stay tuned Colleen McGinley