Qian Pei-Yuan

Chair Professor, Department of Ocean Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; lead researcher

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Last updated Nov 14, 2026

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Deep-sea mollusk houses symbiotic bacteria in layered 'dragon ball' organelle

New Capabilities

Leading follow-up research on the dracosphera finding

Three millimeters below the seafloor in the South China Sea, sediment contains almost no oxygen and plenty of hydrogen sulfide. A worm-like mollusk called Chaetoderma shenloong lives there, and researchers say it survives with the help of a previously unknown cellular structure.

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