A sea cucumber (Chiridota heheva) PF-(usna1)/Alamy
A sea cucumber that lives in extreme deep-sea environments has had its genome sequenced. ThisĀ revealed that many of its genes have been altered, potentially by theĀ intense places it calls home.
Chiridota heheva is a sea cucumber, a worm-like animal in the echinoderm group that also includes starfish. First described in 2004, it is one of the only echinoderms that lives in three of the most extreme ocean locations: hydrothermal vents, cold seeps rich in carbon-based chemicals like methane, and āwhale fallsā ā the sunken corpses of whales. These places have…
