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Vestimentum Though it may not look like much, this part of the worm is like Mission Control. A muscular structure, it helps to anchor the upper portion of the worm in the tube. It provides safe passage for the blood heading from the plume to the trophosome. It generates new tube material. It holds the reproductive pores from which the worm releases sperm or eggs during spawning; these combine in the water to make baby tubeworms. Finally, along with various glands, this structure harbors simplified versions of the two organs that most closely bind this primitive creature to its fellow animals: the heart and the brain. (back to illustration) Living at Extremes | Inside a Tubeworm | Deep-Sea Bestiary The Mission | Life in the Abyss | The Last Frontier | Dispatches E-mail | Resources | Table of Contents | Abyss Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated October 2000 |
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