Thousands of Tiny Worms Thrive in Utah's Great Salt Lake [Study]

Great Salt Lake in Utah is home to some strange critters. Scientists suspect the lake hosts roundworms, but until today, there was no evidence.

Worms Thrive in Great Salt Lake

In a new study, researchers from the University of Utah found thousands of tiny worms in the lake's microbialites, the reeflike structures on the lake bed. Their first attempt to find worms in the lake was unsuccessful until biology professor Michael Werner and postdoctoral researcher Julie Jung decided to take a step further and examined the lakebed.

The salt content of the Great Salt Lake varies from two to nine times that of the ocean. Therefore, it is home to a wide range of fascinating organisms.

According to the study, only two multicellular creatures existed there until this point: brine shrimp and brine flies. The list will now include these roundworms.

Deep waters and subterranean spaces are home to approximately 250,000 recognized species. The study concluded that the Great Salt Lake is the saltiest place where worms have ever been discovered.

"Just what is the limit of animal life? What environments can animals actually survive in? That captures some imagination about looking at other planets where we might find complex multicellular life," said Werner, the study's senior author. If there was life also on Mars, it might have looked a little bit like the [lake's ultra-salty] North Arm right now."

The study involved more than just finding the creatures. To see how the worms would respond to the lake water, the study team tried feeding the bacteria in the water to the worms. It was crucial to ascertain their response because the lake is fifty times more salinized than its typical habitat.

After a day, the bacteria-fed animals remained alive, while the ones on the species' typical food perished.

This implies that the worms are highly adapted to environmental conditions. The next stage will be to conduct more in-depth research on the mechanisms behind their capacity for adaptation.

According to Byron Adams, a renowned nematode expert from Brigham Young University, they are still learning incredible things about this lake just outside our door for 170 years. He added that Werner had put much effort into learning more about this wonderful system.

According to the study, these worms have been discovered in some of the world's most inhospitable places, including Antarctica. It surprised them even more to locate them in the Great Salt Lake.

Great Salt Lake Facts

The Great Salt Lake is the biggest lake created by nature to the west of the Mississippi. Currently, the Great Salt Lake spans over 75 miles in length and 35 miles in width. Situated in multiple broad, level basins, the lake's surface area is greatly increased by a small rise in water level. Since the first scientific observations were made in 1849, the lake level has fluctuated about 20 feet, causing the shoreline to shift by up to 15 kilometers in certain locations.

The lack of an outlet makes the Great Salt Lake salty. Small amounts of salt are continuously dissolved in the freshwater flow of tributary rivers. However, much of the salt is left behind in the Great Salt Lake's case as the water evaporates.

The lake is too salty to host fish and most other aquatic species, but it is home to a variety of algal species. Brine flies, and brine shrimp survive in the lake by consuming the algae despite the high salinity level.

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