Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals.

再看看线虫，它们是所有动物家族当中最为繁盛的。

Nematodes, of course, are much smaller than sandworms.

当然，线虫的体型比沙虫要小得多。

" Most nematodes, you can just barely see."

“大多数线虫几乎无法用肉眼看见。”

And indeed, they found eight species of nematodes living there!

他们确实在里发现了8种线虫！

It would be really interesting if we could get the nematodes to photosynthesize.

如果我们能让线虫进行光合作用，将非常有趣。

For every single human on this planet, there exist 57 billion nematodes.

对于这个星球上的每个来说，有 570 亿条线虫。

" They look like nematodes. You know, anything in the popular culture that has a relationship to worms, we follow."

“它们看起来很像线虫。流行文化中与蠕虫有关的任何东西，我们都会研究。”

Others may look familiar, but be stranger still, like nematodes.

其他可能看起来很熟，然很陌生，就像线虫一样。

Not a snake nor an earthworm, nematodes are a creature all of their own.

不是蛇也不是蚯蚓，线虫是一种完全属于它们自己的生物。

Their charges are susceptible to intestinal nematode worms which cause them to waste away and can, in severe cases, kill them.

他们的羊群容易受到肠道线虫的影响，这些蠕虫会使它们日渐消瘦，在严重的情况下，会令它们死亡。

And indeed: they found eight species of nematodes living there!

事实上：他们发现里生活着八种线虫！

This means pacificus nematodes actually are cannibals--they eat nematodes of their own species, but avoid their close relatives.

这意味着太平洋线虫实际上是食者——它们吃同类的线虫，避开它们的近亲。

Researchers wanted to know how these nematodes avoid feasting on their family.

研究员想知道这些线虫是如何避免以家为食的。

When studying lifespan and aging, researchers often focus on model organisms, such as mice, fruit flies, or nematodes.

在研究寿命和衰老时，研究员通常关注模型生物，例如小鼠、果蝇或线虫。

How do the nematodes do it?

线虫是怎么做到的？

To solve that mystery, the researchers exposed 79 slugs to more than a million nematodes that had been tagged with a fluorescent marker.

为了揭开这个谜团，研究员们将79只鼻涕虫放在用荧光标记过的100万多只线虫环境中。

To find this self-recognition signal, researchers decided to look for genetic differences between different strains of the pacifius nematode.

为了找到这种自我识别信号，研究员决定寻找太平洋线虫不同品系之间的遗传差异。

More research could help scientists understand how the nematodes detect this signal through touch.

更多的研究可以帮助科学家了解线虫如何通过触摸检测到这种信号。

They're also predatory and some species even appear to hunt in packs to take down larger organisms such as small worms, which are known as nematodes.

它们也会欺负弱小，有些物种甚至成群狩猎来消灭更大的生物，比如被称为线虫的小蠕虫。

But they also found that even nematodes that weren't from Mono Lake seemed to have the genetic ability to resist the lethal element.

他们还发现，即使不是来自莫诺湖的线虫似乎也具有抵抗致命元素的遗传能力。