Vent Dominators

In this blog post, I will show you some examples of the creatures that dominate the communities at hydrothermal vents around the world.  I recommend following this link to an interactive map of vent sites around the world whilst reading this blog post, so you can navigate around each vent ‘province’ and learn more about the vents at which these animals thrive!  There is also a Google Earth file to download, if you’d like to interactively view the vent locations within this program.

NORTH-EAST PACIFIC

The hydrothermal vents of the NE Pacific are dominated by tubeworms called Ridgeia piscesae.  These worms do not have stomachs and, instead, host their symbiotic bacteria in a specially adapted region called the ‘trophosome’.  They also come in all shapes and sizes.  In fact, they can appearance so different that scientists once thought that they were multiple species!  Instead, they are now known to have multiple ‘morphotypes’ (they can have different body types but their genetic makeup is the same), with a ‘long skinny’ type and a ‘short fat’ type.  The Ridgeia piscesae  worms are particularly important at the NE Pacific vents as they form large clumps, which act as a suitable surface for other animals to live on.  This makes these worms a ‘foundation species’ and they’re likely to play an important role in keeping their community and ecosystem healthy because of this.

 

I’ve included Lepetodrilus fucensis as a ‘dominator’ for this region too, as this limpet reaches huge densities and abundances orders of magnitude greater than those of other species at the Juan de Fuca Ridge vents of the NE Pacific.

ARCTIC

On the recently explored Arctic mid-ocean ridge, scientists found dense aggregations of straw-like tubeworms called Sclerolinum contortum.

 WEST PACIFIC

The West Pacific vents have a very different set of ‘dominators’ to the NE Pacific ones.  Instead of tubeworms, these vents are overridden with barnacles, limpets and hairy gastropods (Alviniconcha hessleri).

The hairy snail isn’t actually as fluffy as it sounds, as the hairs are actually spines that protrude from its very thin shell.  This snail is also rather splendid on the inside as it has blue blood and large gills (in which it stores its bacteria).

MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

The mid-Atlantic Ridge is dominated by an alien-like, ‘glowing’ shrimp called Rimicaris exoculata.  This shrimp clusters on vent fluid and constantly moves around, organizing itself like a busy bee on a hive.  It stores bacteria under its carapace and has no eyes.  Instead of eyes, the shrimp has an ‘eyespot’, which researchers debate the purpose of.

 

CENTRAL INDIAN RIDGE

The Central Indian Ridge vent communities seem to comprise a combination of other ‘vent dominators’.  The vents here resemble those seen in the West Pacific but with the notable addition of a North Atlantic type shrimp.

 

EAST PACIFIC

Like the NE Pacific, the East Pacific is dominated by a tubeworm that has the same symbiotic relationship with bacteria in its trophosome as Ridgeia piscesae.  Larger than Ridgeia and perhaps, arguably, more iconic, the dominator here is called Riftia pachyptila and this was one of the first vent species scientists first laid their eyes on when they first discovered vent life in the Galapagos in 1977.  Follow this link to learn more about the discovery of hydrothermal vents: http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/ventcd/vent_discovery/.

 

 ANTARCTICA

Finally, at the Antarctic East Scotia Ridge vents, we get to meet every* vent ecologist’s favourite yeti crab – Kiwa tyleri.  This hairy-chested crab, colloquially known as the ‘Hoff’ crab, carries bacteria on its body, which gives it a furry appearance.

*I cannot speak for all vent ecologists but, let’s face it, Kiwa tyleri is rather impressive!

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of the ‘vent dominators’ of the world and that you will enjoy exploring the deep with us as more vents are discovered and their dominators are revealed!

 

 

References

Ramirez-Llodra E, Shank TM, German CR. (2007) ‘Biodiversity and Biogeography of Hydrothermal Vent Species: Thirty Years of Discovery and Investigations’, Oceanography, 20(1):30-41.

Rogers AD, Tyler PA, Connelly DP, Copley JT, James R, Larter RD, et al. (2012) ‘The Discovery of New Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Communities in the Southern Ocean and Implications for Biogeography’, PLoS Biol, 10(1): e1001234. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001234

Thatje S, Marsh L, Roterman CN, Mavrogordato MN, Linse K (2015) ‘Adaptations to Hydrothermal Vent Life in Kiwa tyleri, a New Species of Yeti Crab from the East Scotia Ridge, Antarctica’, PLoS ONE, 10(6): e0127621. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127621

Pedersen, Rolf B., Hans Tore Rapp, Ingunn H. Thorseth, Marvin D. Lilley, Fernando JAS Barriga, Tamara Baumberger, Kristin Flesland, Rita Fonseca, Gretchen L. Früh-Green, and Steffen L. Jorgensen (2010) ‘Discovery of a black smoker vent field and vent fauna at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge’, Nature Communications, 1: 126.

Zelnio, K. (2008) ‘The 27 Best Deep-Sea Species #14: Alviniconcha, the Hairy Vent Snail’, available at: http://www.deepseanews.com/2008/10/the-27-best-deep-sea-species-14-alviniconcha-the-hairy-vent-snail/, accessed 18/09/2015.