Deep-Sea Creepy-Crawlies: Images of Acorn Worms

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Red Acorn Worm

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2010 NOAA Okeanos Explorer)

Make like a rose

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2010 NOAA Okeanos Explorer)

A new species of acorn worm looks a bit like a rose on the sea floor. The tubular shapes in the right of the photo are castings, or sand and sediment excreted after the worm filters through it for nutrients.

Yellow Worm

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2010 MBARI Doc Ricketts)

Another species of acorn worm rests among its castings.

Flat Worm

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2003 MBARI Tiburon)

A nearly-transparent acorn worm in the Gulf of California.

Two for the Price of One

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2003 MBARI Tiburon)

A sea spider steps over an acorn worm in this image taken by an remotely operated vehicle.

Long Worm

A new species of acorn worm.

(Image credit: © 2010 MBARI Doc Ricketts)

A new species of acorn worm moves amid brittle stars.

Floating Worm

A new species of acorn worm drifts in the current.

(Image credit: © 2004 MBARI Tiburon)

In a new discovery, researchers observed worms drifting as much as 66 feet (20 meters) above the seafloor. It seems that the worms are capable of floating from feeding zone to feeding zone.

Friends in Low Places

An acorn worm and a sea cucumber on the ocean floor.

(Image credit: NOAA/MBARI 2006)

An acorn worm (top left) shares the sea floor with a spiky sea cucumber (center). This photo was taken on the Davidson Seamount at 9,596 feet (2925 meters).

Lone Acorn Worm

An acorn worm on the sea floor.

(Image credit: NOAA/MBARI 2006)

An acorn worm on the Davidson Seamount at 10,784 feet (3287 meters).

Feeding Acorn Worm

An acorn worm on the sea floor.

(Image credit: Neptune Canada, distributed via a Creative Commons license.)

An acorn worm photographed in the Endeavor Rift Valley.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.