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Is a tube worm a producer or a consumer?
Although earthworms are like other consumers in that they are unable to produce their own food, they are unlike in that they do not eat live organisms. Instead, they extract food energy from decaying organic matter (plants and animals that have died).
Are tube worms primary producers?
Are tube worms producers? Chemosynthetic bacteria are the primary producers in these communities. They exist both as free-living organisms and in a symbiotic relationship within the cells or body of other organisms, such as the tube worm Riftia pachyptila (Figure 1).
What do tube worms feed on?
They live among or even under clumps of mussels. They eat crabs, clams, and mussels. Tubeworms live around hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Ocean Ridge in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Are tube worms herbivores?
DIET. As a group, clam worms, sand worms, and tubeworms eat virtually all food resources in the ocean. Carnivores (KAR-nih-vorz) eat all kinds of small marine animals. Herbivores (URH-bih-vorz) feed on plant tissues.
Are worms primary consumers?
Squirrels and earthworms are primary consumers , and the wood mice are secondary consumers . The foxes and owls are tertiary consumers (the foxes are also secondary consumers).
Is a Riftia a producer?
Chemosynthetic bacteria are the primary producers in these communities. They exist both as free-living organisms and in a symbiotic relationship within the cells or body of other organisms, such as the tube worm Riftia pachyptila (Figure 1).
What are the predators of tube worms?
Few deep sea creatures such as deep sea crabs and shrimps, large brown mussels and giant clams are predators of giant tube worms (they feed on plumes).
How do tube worms reproduce?
Giant tube worms reproduce by releasing their eggs into the water to be fertilized. After hatching, the young larvae swim down and attach themselves to rocks. As the larvae develop into tiny worms, they temporarily develop a primitive mouth and gut through which the symbiotic bacteria enter.
Are tube worms benthos?
The pogonopherans found in soft sediments at great depths constitute a group of gutless benthic worms that are related to the tube worms of hydrothermal vents. For a long time their form of nutrition was an enigma and much debated.
What phylum is a tube worm?
Annelid
Riftia pachyptila/Phylum
tube worm, any of a number of tube-dwelling marine worms belonging to the annelid class Polychaeta (see polychaete; feather-duster worm; tentacle worm). Other tube-dwelling worms include the horseshoe worm (phylum Phoronida) and the beardworm (phylum Pogonophora).
Where are giant tube worms found in the ocean?
As the worm grows older, the mouth and gut disappear, trapping the bacteria inside. Giant tube worms have been found throughout the Pacific Ocean where deep sea hydrothermal vents have been discovered. The average depth of these vents is 5,000 feet (1,500 meters).
What kind of animals live around tube worms?
Entire communities of shrimps and crabs have been found living around these giants. It is believed that these invertebrates feed by nibbling off bits of the tube worms’ red plumes. As amazing as these vent ecosystems are, they are also extremely fragile.
These hydrothermal vents are known as “black smokers” because of the dark color of the material they eject. The giant tube worms are closely related to the many smaller species of tube worms that inhabit shallower waters.
What is the average depth of a tube worm vent?
The average depth of these vents is 5,000 feet (1,500 meters). Entire communities of shrimps and crabs have been found living around these giants. It is believed that these invertebrates feed by nibbling off bits of the tube worms’ red plumes. As amazing as these vent ecosystems are, they are also extremely fragile.