 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Alvinellidae" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Alvinellidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Paralvinella sulfincola | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Clade: | Sedentaria |
| Order: | Terebellida |
| Family: | Alvinellidae Desbruyères & Laubier, 1986 |
| Genera | |
TheAlvinellidae are a family of small, deep-seapolychaeteworms endemic tohydrothermal vents in thePacific Ocean. Belonging to the orderTerebellida, the family contains two genera,Alvinella andParalvinella; the former genus contains two valid species and the latter eight. Members of the family are termedalvinellids.
The family was first described in 1979 after discoveries made off theGalápagos Islands by the crew of theDSVAlvin. The ship subsequently lent its name to the family and genera within it.
The worms build mucus tubes and extend red feathery gills. Members of the Alvinellidae are noted for their exceptional heat tolerance: one species,Alvinella pompejana, is thought to be the most heat-tolerant complex organism on Earth.Mitochondria start to break down at temperatures of 122–131 °F (50–55 °C), apparently providing an upper limit foreukaryotes. Under laboratory conditions, in a pressurized aquarium with a heat gradient, worms of the speciesParalvinella sulfincola, chose water heated to 122 °F (50 °C) and made brief forays into water as hot as 131 °F (55 °C).[1] Unlike other (chemosynthetic) vent-dwelling worms, alvinellid worms possess a digestive tract. However, they do rely on anepisymbiotic relationship withthermophilicbacteria; hair-like growths of the bacteria living on the worm's back are thought to offer thermal protection to the worm.