Other heat-loving bacteria can be found around hydrothermal vents on the sea bottom, where they help anchor the food chains, producing their own organic material from dissolved sulfur compounds vented out with the hot water, and being fed upon by little crustaceans and other animals. A giant tube worm, one of those gaudy red creatures that waggle around such vents, with no mouth, no digestive tract, gets its nutrition from bacteria growing within its tissues.
