After looking carefully at a large number of shallow-water sediment samples from the North Carolina Coast, Rebecca and Jessie have found chemosynthetic animals from three animal phyla. These animals live in symbiosis with bacteria that provide all nutrition to them.
Jessie Maier looking for symbiotic animals in marine sediment samples.
Gutless marine worm (annelid, symbiotic segmented worm) sampled at the <a href="http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/WRECKS/AEOLUS/AEOLUS.HTML">Wreck of the Aeolus</a> near Beaufort, NC.
Paracatenula (symbiotic flatworm). Sampled near Beaufort, NC.
Stilbonematine nematode (symbiotic roundworm) with bacterial ectosymbionts. Sampled near Beaufort, NC.