An international team of marine zoologists from Japan, Malaysia, the United States and Russia discovered two new species of polychaete worms off the Ryukyu Islands in the south of the Japanese archipelago. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Zoological Science.
The creatures found were named Parahesione apiculata and Parahesione pulvinata. Scientists found previously unknown creatures by examining ghost shrimp or glass shrimp nests, so named because of their translucent shells.
Both worm species have unusually flat bodies and four eyes, according to zoologists. Researchers’ interest was aroused by the fact that these animals are found only in shrimp habitats and share their shelters with them.
This allowed scientists to propose that worms and shrimp are obligate symbionts, meaning they literally cannot exist without each other. According to the study’s authors, the worms use the deep burrows of glass shrimp to escape predators. However, it is not yet clear what benefits the nest owners derive from the neighborhood.
Previously in Australia discovered A new subspecies of worm that destroys harmful wasps.