Photo essay featuring invertebrates from East Pacific Rise Tica Vent.

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536785

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Photo essay featuring invertebrates from East Pacific Rise Tica Vent.

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Still Image

Date

01/01/2021

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Rock Bottom invertebrates.jpg

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Date is approximate.
Captions from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 56, No. 1, pages 36-37:
At more than a mile and a half deep in the ocean and shrouded in darkness are invertebrates of the most bizarre shapes and lifestyles. Their extraordinary sense of smell and hair-triggered feelers have given them an edge in the darkness, as they undulate and spiral their way toward nutrient-rich hydrothermal vents. Here, they are home. The following photos are of heavily documented, but rarely photographed species found at Tica Vent, an active hot spot along the East Pacific Rise. This photo essay is courtesy of benthic ecologist and MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Lauren Dykman, with information contributed by Susan Mills.
Lower, far left:
Nereis sandersi
Distinguished by the two fangs outside its tubelike mouth, this free-swimming sandworm is found on both extinct and live vents, which has led some scientists to believe it may be an active predator, prowling in the deep.
Lower, second left:
Riftia pachyptila
Also known as the giant tube worm, this vent animal has no mouth or gut. Instead it processes harsh chemicals and nutrients at hydrothermal vents using a helpful bacterium that lives within, helping it grow up to 3 feet in just under a year.
Lower, third left:
Bathymargarites symplector
This small, opalescent snail is bred for the deep sea. This specimen was collected at over 8,200 feet deeper and is known for being a vessel to midstage marine parasites.
Upper, center:
Galapagomystides aristata
At only an inch long, this centipede-like worm is a common site along hydrothermal vents, using its many arms to creep along tube worms, vent chimneys, and beds of mussels, for what scientists suspect may be a blood meal.
Lower, far right:
Paralvinella grasslei
This larval worm thrives in the Goldilocks zone between the freezing seafloor and warm vent water, where it shoots out of a mucus tube to scoop up bacteria with its frilly tentacles.
Upper, far right:
Bathymargarites symplector
This small, opalescent snail is bred for the deep sea. This specimen was collected at over 8,200 feet deeper and is known for being a vessel to midstage marine parasites.

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Courtesy of Lauren Dykman

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