A new species of yeti crab piles around the hydrothermal vents in Antarctica. The vents may be a safe haven for crabs, which typically can't tolerate cold waters.
Image: (c) NERC ChEsSo Consortium
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Scientists doing their first exploring of deep-sea vents in the Antarctic have uncovered a world unlike anything found around other hydrothermal vents, one populated by new species of anemones, predatory sea stars, and piles of hairy-chested yeti crabs.
It was "almost like a sight from another planet," said expedition leader Alex Rogers, a professor of zoology at Oxford University.
Even in the eye-popping world of deep-sea vents, the Antarctic discoveries stand out, with the unfamiliar species of crabs found crowded in piles around the warm waters emanating from the seafloor. Many of the animals found at the vents have never been found at hydrothermal vents in other oceans, Rogers said. "To see these animals in such huge densities was just amazing," Rogers told LiveScience.
In the dayless world of deep-sea vents, energy comes not from the sun but from the hydrothermal energy generated in the oceanic crust.
The yeti crabs seem to cultivate "gardens" of bacteria on their chests, which are covered with hairy tendrils. These bacterial mats almost certainly provides the crabs with sustenance, Rogers said. In turn, predatory seven-armed sea stars stalk the periphery of the vents, snacking on unfortunate crabs. [See video and photos from the vents]
"We were absolutely stunned to see the animal communities, because they were so different from the hydrothermal vents seen elsewhere," Rogers told LiveScience. He and his colleagues reported their results today (Jan. 3) in the journal PLoS Biology.
Discovery in the deep sea
Weird life flourishes at deep-sea vents the world over, but no one had ever found hydrothermal vents in Antarctica, explained Jon Copley, a professor of earth and ocean science at the University of Southampton who also participated in the research. That's largely because it's more difficult to do research in the harsh Southern Ocean than in temperate climes. [Extremophiles: World's Weirdest Life]
"It's only quite recently that we've been able to be bold enough, really, to head to the poles," Copley told LiveScience.
In 1999, Antarctic mapping surveys turned up hints of hydrothermal vent output in the water column over the East Scotia Ridge in the Atlantic section of the Southern Ocean, between Antarctica and South America and eastward. It took 10 years for researchers to get back for a full-blown expedition, during which they lowered cameras to two areas, 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) and 7,874 feet (2,400 m) deep, catching the first glimpses of Antarctic hydrothermal vents. Among them were "black smokers," chimney-like vents that emit dark-hued, superheated water.
Although the background temperature of the Southern Ocean in the area is 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), the black smokers gushed water as hot as 721 degrees F (382 degrees C).
In 2010, the researchers returned with a remote-operated submersible vehicle (ROV) called Isis. The sub took close-up photos of the amazing vent fauna and collected samples of organisms for identification.
New world
Among the new species were the yeti crabs, crowded around the vents up to 600 per square meter.
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9 Comments
Add CommentI am sorry but I do not understand why we would need to "manage these deep-ocean resources". The life already there seems to be managing the resources just fine without our need to intervene. The only thing we need to do is to manage ourselves in such a way that these areas remain prestine instead of poluted like everything else "we" have stuck our noses into.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is fascinated to see the increadable diversity of life in these areas. I really thing we need to study such things but I get the nasty feeling that the word "management" used here realy means "exploit".
Indeed, BillR.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy not substitute the word "protect" for "manage". As in "we must protect these previously hidden creatures from the insatiable appetite of humans, a species which undoubtably will one day arrive in the Antarctic in numbers great enough to eat them all and drill for oil."
Good luck, Yeti Crabs. You and your neighbors are up to your gills in it now.
The statment that the "energy comes not from the sun but from the hydrothermal energy generated in the oceanic crust" is incorrect. It is Chemical Energy - not heat, which is the basis for the food chain.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisem...no, I believe what they stated is correct. The heat from the vents is the source of the food chain. If/When the vent stops, all the creatures either move on or die.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe head mentions ghost octopi, but I saw no mention of them in the article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPage two.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUhh...sorry, but no. Actually it is the high content of chemical nutrients in the water that is coming out of the hydrothermal that allows the bacteria to grow that the crabs and other organisms are eating. If it weren't for these nutrients pretty much nothing could live down there regardless of the fact that it would be warm enough to survive near the vents.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this“As humans increasingly exploit the deep seas for fish, oil and mining, understanding how species are dispersed is crucial, Copley said.”
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Until we understand what governs the patterns of life at deep-sea vents, how interconnected their populations, how well life disperses from vent to vent, we can't make responsible decisions about how to manage these deep-ocean resources."
How about using your brains, leave them alone, do nothing with them and tell NO ONE where they are! That way they can be left to live out their own lives without the interference of humans.
I would like to know more about the life around all vents?Do they predate most other life on Earth?If not how did they get where they are?As for the word manage it would suggest some kind of future harvest of the vents,there and elsewhere.I seem to remember that the Japanese are using some kind drag to fish the bottom of the Pacific,and mining by them and others using the same methods?With little care of the damage they might be causing.It would probably be wise to get as many genetic samples they can before it,s too late.Who knows what secrets there might be to be found?Since the Antarctic is already under international control those vents should be protected.But what about all the others?
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