atures above 80°C. Recent interest in the Pompeii worm has focused on a unique assemblage of symbiotic filamentous proteobacteria that cover the dorsal surface of the animal 9,10 . Like their hosts, these bacteria are positioned within this extreme thermal gradient and survive the same high-temperature environment laden with heavy metals and hydrogen sulphide. Studies of the worm and its associated microflora afford a unique opportunity to discover the biochemical adaptations that allow organisms to thrive in such an extreme thermal regime.

Doliolids were found in samples taken with a Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) in October 1989 between 55°14'N 03°32'E and 55°20'N 06°13'E during a tow between Newcastle and Esbjerg. Densities were estimated at >100 m−3 for about 112 km of tow. A sub-sample of specimens in sufficiently good condition to be reliably identified were referred to Doliolum nationalis Borgert. Substantial numbers of doliolids were found on a CPR tow between Harwich and Gothenburg which passed through the same area in that month and specimens were found nearer to the Danish coast in November and south-west of Helgoland in December. The distribution of doliolids in CPR samples taken in the North Sea in the last three months of 1989 is shown in Figure 1.

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