Adult pogonophorans lack both a mouth and a gut.
Some nutrients are absorbed through the microvilli
of the tentacles, however, in the species so far
investigated intracellular chemoautotrophic bacteria
have been found in the trophosome. The
haemoglobin of some pogonophorans is able to
carry hydrogen sulphide and distribute it to the
bacteria. The bacteria metabolize this, in the presence of carbon dioxide, into larger organic compounds
on which the worms feed