Abstract
The free-living, marine nematode Oncholaimus campylocercoides occurs in high abundance (up to 600 ind. 10 cm -2 ) at the fringe area of shallow-water hydrothermal vents off the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea. It was found to have a sulphide tolerance (LT 50 ) of 4.5 d at 500 pM sulphide concentration and of 4 d at 1 mM sulphide. Light- and electron-microscopical inspections showed that the non-symbiotic O. campylocercoides, when exposed to sulphidic conditions, develops oily to viscous inclusions in the epidermis consisting of elemental sulphur in the form of S 8 -rings and polysulphur chains. The longer the exposure to sulphidic conditions, the more sulphur was formed, which disappeared after re-introduction of the nematodes in normoxic conditions for 12 h. Based on these results and on tolerance experiments with hydrogen sulphide, we suggest a model of sulphide metabolism in O. campylocercoides which could relate to its occurrence in sulphidic, hydrothermal sediments.
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