Lamellibrachia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of tube worms related to the giant tube worm

Giant tube worm

Giant tube worms, Riftia pachyptila, are marine invertebrates in the phylum Annelida related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones...

, Riftia pachyptila. It lives at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons (oil and methane) are leaking out of the seafloor. It is entirely reliant on internal, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

l symbionts for its nutrition.

L. luymesi provides the bacteria with hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...

 and oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 by taking them up from the environment and binding them to a specialized hemoglobin

Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...

 molecule. Unlike the tube worms that live at hydrothermal vent

Hydrothermal vent

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...

s, Lamellibrachia uses a posterior extension of its body called the root to take up hydrogen sulfide from the seep sediments. Lamellibrachia may also help fuel the generation of sulfide by excreting sulfate

Sulfate

In inorganic chemistry, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid.-Chemical properties:...

 through their roots into the sediments below the aggregations.

The most well-known seeps where L. luymesi

Lamellibrachia luymesi

Lamellibrachia luymesi is a species of tube worms in the family Siboglinidae.It lives at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons are leaking out of the seafloor...

 lives are in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 from 500 to 800 m depth. This tube worm can reach lengths of over 3 m (10 ft), and grows very slowly, with individuals living to be over 250 years old. It forms biogenic habitat by creating large aggregations of hundreds to thousands of individuals. Living in these aggregations are over a hundred different species of animals, many of which are found only at these depths.

While most species of vestimentiferan tubeworms live in deep waters below the photic zone

Photic zone

The photic zone or euphotic zone is the depth of the water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur...

, Lamellibrachia satsuma was discovered in Kagoshima Bay

Kagoshima Bay

is a deep inlet on the coast of Japan.Kagoshima Bay is on the south coast of the island of Kyūshū. The port city of Kagoshima and its well-protected harbor lie on the bays western coast....

, Kagoshima

Kagoshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...

 at a depth of only 82 m, the shallowest depth record for a vestimentiferan.

Species

• Lamellibrachia barhami Webb, 1969
• Lamellibrachia columna
• Lamellibrachia juni
• Lamellibrachia luymesi
  Lamellibrachia luymesi
  Lamellibrachia luymesi is a species of tube worms in the family Siboglinidae.It lives at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons are leaking out of the seafloor...
  
  van der Land and Nørrevang, 1975 - Gulf of Mexico
  Gulf of Mexico
  The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
  
   seep tubeworm
• Lamellibrachia satsuma Miura, Tsukahara & Hashimoto