Sulfide detoxification and tolerance in Halicryptus spinulosus (Priapulida): a multiple strategy

Abstract

When oxygen and sulfide occur concurrently in the environment sulfide can either initially be excluded or internal concentration kept low by the animals. The survival in spite of an elevated amount of internal sulfide accumulation is unprecedented for a marine invertebrate without endosymbionts. The worms can passively outlast raised environmental sulfide concentrations by their high capacity for anaerobic metabolism. -from Authors