Microbial Habitats Associated with Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Invertebrates: Insights from Microanalysis and Geochemical Modeling

Chapter
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Part of the Topics in Geobiology book series (TGBI, volume 33)

Abstract

Symbioses between hydrothermal vent invertebrates and chemosynthetic microbes have been recognized to form some of the most productive marine communities (Lutz et al. 1994; Halbach et al. 2003). Endosymbiotic organisms, like the giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila or the Bathymodiolus spp. mussels, flourish in diffuse flow areas of the seafloor. A key to their success is the ability to supply the autotrophic bacteria hosted in their tissues with electron donors and acceptors from the surrounding fluids (see Dubilier et al. 2008 for review). Communities colonizing the walls of hydrothermal smokers (i.e. focused vent habitats) are mostly devoid of these endosymbiotic organisms but also yield remarkably high biomasses. Only a few specialized metazoans are adapted to the sharp physico-chemical gradients and fluctuating conditions encountered in these habitats (Van Dover 2000). These species associate with abundant free-living microbes, sometimes attached to their body surface or colonizing extracellular matrix like tubes (Gaill and Hunt 1991; Gebruk et al. 1993).

Keywords

Mineral Wall Branchial Chamber Carbon Fixation Pathway Iron Oxide Deposition Chimney Wall 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the CNRS, Ifremer and the MoMARNet EC contract MCRTN-CT-2004–552703.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Département Etude des Ecosystèmes ProfondsIfremerPlouzanéFrance
  2. 2.Laboratoire d’Ecogéochimie des Environnements BenthiquesCNRS-UPMC FRE 3350Banyuls-sur-MerFrance
  3. 3.Ecology and Environment InstituteCNRSParisFrance

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