Giant tube worm

Riftia pachyptila · The giant tube worm is a red-plumed worm that lives in tall tubes in big colonies around deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific Rise and the Galapagos Rift.

Giant tube worm
Photo: null, CC BY 4.0
Giant tube worm
Photo: null, CC BY 4.0
Giant tube worm
Photo: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011, Public domain

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumAnnelida
ClassPolychaeta
OrderSabellida
FamilySiboglinidae
GenusRiftia
SpeciesRiftia pachyptila

Where it lives

Hydrothermal vents deep on the floor of the eastern Pacific.

Fun facts

  • Adult giant tube worms have no mouth, stomach or digestive system, so they never eat.
  • They grow faster than any other known marine invertebrate, reaching 1.5 metres in under two years after settling a new site.
  • The worm's red plume gets its colour from hemoglobin, and the worm pulls it into its tube if it is touched or senses a threat.
  • Inside the worm, bacteria turn vent chemicals into food, and the worm eventually digests the bacteria once they reach a certain size.

Play it

The Giant tube worm was the creature in a regional daily on October 29, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

Play today's creature or replay a past daily

Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).