Ocean mysteries: shimmering, iridescent ‘Elvis’ worms discovered thousands of feet below the surface

Oceans on Earth are full with mysteries and undiscovered species. One worm was found by scientists and is one of these enigmatic species.

The discoverers gave it the moniker ‘Elvis worm’ because of how much the king of rock’n’roll was evoked by its dazzling colours.

The glistening Peinaleopolynoe were found 13,000 feet or 4,000 metres under the surface in some of the deepest hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.

They have been called ‘Elvis worms’ for years because to their shimmering scales, which are reminiscent of the sequined jumpsuits worn by Elvis Presley.

The Greek term peinaléos, which implies to be hungry or starving, is where the name Peinaleopolynoe comes from. The hungry scale worms were given their name because, when they were first spotted, they congregated around a pile of food that scientists had placed on the deep sea floor as a sort of experiment, according to the Guardian.

Scale worms have been found in settings that support chemical-harvesting bacteria, such as whale corpses, volcanic seamounts, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, etc.