SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A new species of worm that can live at the bottom of the ocean, in extremely hot or very cold environments, has been named following a marine scientist from Trinidad and Tobago.
“This must surely be the highlight of my long marine career,” Judith Gobin, a marine ecologist and professor at the University of the West Indies, said in a statement Wednesday, following announcing the name of the Judiworm, whose official designation is Lamellibrachia judigobini. .
The name is meant to recognize Gobin for his discoveries and efforts to protect marine wildlife in the region, according to Magdalena Georgieva of London’s Natural History Museum.
The University of the West Indies said in a statement that the new species was collected during exploratory missions from 2012 to 2014.
The worm lives near hydrothermal vents and cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico and around Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago at depths of more than 10,800 feet (3,300 meters). The vents can reach temperatures of more than 370 Celsius (700 Fahrenheit), while the cold seeps are only slightly warmer than the surrounding water in the deep sea, which is nearly freezing cold.
