Yet, one distinguishing feature is their lack of both colour and ink sacs. As with the other species discovered at deep sea vents, not much is known about these ghost-like animals. This enables other stationary species such as tube-building worms to settle, maintaining diverse and thriving marine life in and around hydrothermal vents.Īnother resident of the East Pacific Rise, the hydrothermal vent octopus, is also a unique seafloor-dwelling species. They eat molluscs such as limpets, as well as gastropods and amphipods. Zoarcid fish are found along the East Pacific Rise in the Pacific Ocean at around 2500m below sea level. So far, they have only been identified and sampled in three different locations, so more research is needed. They do not actively feed, instead getting the nutrients they need through a symbiotic relationship with gut bacteria. This armour, which makes them stick to magnets, may be used in defence against predators such as crabs and snails. This unusually large snail species is the only known living animal to use iron sulphide in its shell, and armoured plates on its foot. The scaly-foot snail, also called the iron snail, is found at depths between 2400-2800m in the Indian Ocean, and only on hydrothermal vents. These environments are often called ‘ oases of the deep’ and the majority of their species are only found there – here are three special examples: These vents are often found around active volcanoes on deep ocean ridges and emit hot, volcanic gases, which provides nutrients for living organisms. Hydrothermal vents were first discovered in 1977 off the Galápagos coast and are significant in both the global carbon cycle and carbon storage. At these depths, hydrothermal vents have become a biodiversity ‘hot spots’ for very special deep sea-dwelling animals which live in this remarkable environment. The deep sea is a harsh environment with little to no light, low temperatures and extreme pressure. Today, we take a deep dive to examine the wonderful wildlife living in these uncharted waters. In our open letter we call for the protection of ocean ecosystems as a crucial part of humanity's life support system - add your name here. This extractive industry, still in its infancy, poses a major threat to wildlife and ocean ecosystems, including possible extinction. Before we even have a chance to explore and understand this vast environment, it may be threatened by the unsustainable exploitation of deep-sea mining. Less than 20% of the seafloor has been properly mapped. A moratorium on deep sea mining is needed. From metal snails to ghostly octopodes, deep sea mining threatens to wipe out extraordinary, bizarre wildlife before we even fully understand it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |