The worm, which has yet to be named, is the first of its kind found in the Gulf of Mexico.
The species was discovered when it crawled on the corpse of an alligator on the ocean floor -- and completely consumed its soft tissue within 51 days.
The study, published in science journal PLOS ONE in late December, was conducted by researchers from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. They intended to investigate ocean carbon supply, hoping to find out how the deep sea, without sunlight, could support the high respiration rates of deep-sea benthos -- the community of organisms that live on the ocean floor.
Researchers believed that the remains of animals may have accounted for the benthos' carbon needs. In early 2019, they placed three alligator carcasses under the northern Gulf of Mexico, at depths of around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Within two days, scavengers including giant isopods -- a crustacean related to woodlice -- began crawling on the carcasses and consuming the flesh.
In the report, scientists said they also observed a new type of worm "forming dense patches across the alligator bones, particularly the vertebral column."
The deep-sea creature belongs to the Osedax family, a genus of deep-sea boneworms, and was a new species native to the Gulf of Mexico, which would be named "in due course," the study said
Scientists said the new worm species was the cause of the red hue seen on the alligator's lower jaw
In April, scientists posted a video of one of the alligator carcasses as they first dropped it on the ocean floor, which showed several pink-colored giant isopods crawling on the remains.
Clifton Nunnally, study co-author and researcher from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, said in the video that he hoped to find evidence of any new bone-eating worms that may also be present deep under the Gulf of Mexico.