‘Demon of Underworld’ Worm Found in Deep, Dark, Gold Mines, Nature Reports
Scientists found four species of roundworms in South African gold mines in the first discovery of multi-celled organisms in the deep, dark and hot areas, Nature reported, citing Tullis Onstott, a geo-microbiologist at Princeton University in New Jersey.
One of the worms, found 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) below the ground at Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI)’s Beatrix mine, was named Halicephalobus mephisto in reference to the light-hating “demon of the underworld,” the London-based journal said. The worms feed on bacteria that grow on rock walls in biofilms that resemble “snot layers of gelatinous goo,” it said.
Previously, only single-celled bacteria were thought to have existed at that depth, where temperatures can rise to as much as 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit), Nature said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at ajordan11@bloomberg.net
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