| Bathymodiolus childressi | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Mytilida |
| Family: | Mytilidae |
| Genus: | Bathymodiolus |
| Species: | B. childressi |
| Binomial name | |
| Bathymodiolus childressi | |
Bathymodiolus childressi is a species of deepwater mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk species in the family Mytilidae, the mussels.
Although this species has been known since 1985, [2] it was formally described as a species in 1998. [1]
This species lives in cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. [3]
Bathymodiolus childressi is stenothermal species living in temperatures ranging from 6.5 to 7.2 °C. [4] However it was able to survive the temperature of 20 °C in the laboratory. [4]
This mussel harbors intracellular methanotrophic bacteria in its gills. [2] The bacteria provide carbon to the mussel.
The snail Bathynerita naticoidea can detect beds of the mussel Bathymodiolus childressi. It is attracted to water that has been altered by this species of mussel, [3] but the nature of the attractant was not discovered yet. [3] This snail also feeds on periphyton of methanotrophic bacteria that grow on the shells of Bathymodiolus childressi, [3] living on the decomposing periostracum of the mussels [3] and on byssal fibres of those mussels. [3]
This species was named after James J. Childress, a marine biologist who investigated the physiology of this mussel at the University of California, Santa Barbara. [5]
A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water. On the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher. The "cold" is relative to the very warm conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.
Riftia pachyptila, commonly known as the giant tube worm and less commonly known as the giant beardworm, is a marine invertebrate in the phylum Annelida related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones. R. pachyptila lives on the floor of the Pacific Ocean near hydrothermal vents. The vents provide a natural ambient temperature in their environment ranging from 2 to 30 °C, and this organism can tolerate extremely high hydrogen sulfide levels. These worms can reach a length of 3 m, and their tubular bodies have a diameter of 4 cm (1.6 in).
The blue mussel, also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae, the mussels. Blue mussels are subject to commercial use and intensive aquaculture. A species with a large range, empty shells are commonly found on beaches around the world.
Alvinocarididae is a family of shrimp, originally described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986 from samples collected by DSV Alvin, from which they derive their name. Shrimp of the family Alvinocarididae generally inhabit deep sea hydrothermal vent regions, and hydrocarbon cold seep environments. Carotenoid pigment has been found in their bodies. The family Alvinocarididae comprises 7 extant genera.
Lamellibrachia is a genus of tube worms related to the giant tube worm, Riftia pachyptila. They live at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons leak out of the seafloor, and are entirely reliant on internal, sulfide-oxidizing bacterial symbionts for their nutrition. The symbionts, gammaproteobacteria, require sulfide and inorganic carbon. The tube worms extract dissolved oxygen and hydrogen sulfide from the sea water with the crown of plumes. Species living near seeps can also obtain sulfide through their "roots", posterior extensions of their body and tube. Several sorts of hemoglobin are present in the blood and coelomic fluid to bind to the different components and transport them to the symbionts.
A brine pool, sometimes called an underwater lake, deepwater or brine lake, is a volume of brine collected in a seafloor depression. The pools are dense bodies of water that have a salinity that is three to eight times greater than the surrounding ocean. Brine pools are commonly found below polar sea ice and in the deep ocean. Those below sea ice form through a process called brine rejection. For deep-sea brine pools, salt is necessary to increase the salinity gradient. The salt can come from one of two processes: the dissolution of large salt deposits through salt tectonics or geothermally heated brine issued from tectonic spreading centers.
Mytilidae are a family of small to large marine and brackish-water bivalve molluscs in the order Mytilida. One of the genera, Limnoperna, even inhabits freshwater environments. Mytilidae, which contains some 52 genera, is the only extant family within the order Mytilida.
Provannidae is a family of deep water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfmaily Abyssochrysoidea.
Gigantidas is a genus of large, deepwater, hydrothermal vent mussels, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae.
The sensory organs of gastropods include olfactory organs, eyes, statocysts and mechanoreceptors. Gastropods have no sense of hearing.
Bathynerita naticoidea is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Neritidae, the nerites. This species is endemic to underwater cold seeps in the northern Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean.
Cordesia provannoides is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Provannidae.
Ifremeria nautilei is a species of large, deepwater hydrothermal vent sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Provannidae, and the only species in the genus Ifremeria. This species lives in the South Pacific Ocean
Lamellibrachia luymesi is a species of tube worms in the family Siboglinidae. It lives at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons are leaking out of the seafloor. It is entirely reliant on internal, sulfide-oxidizing bacterial symbionts for its nutrition. These are located in a centrally located "trophosome".
Geukensia demissa is a species of mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. This species is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. The common names for this species include ribbed mussel, Atlantic ribbed marsh mussel and ribbed horsemussel. However, the common name ribbed mussel is also used for the Southern Hemisphere mussel Aulacomya atra. The appearance of the shell is grooved and oval in shape. The interior of this mussel is tinted purple
Bathymodiolus is a genus of deep-sea mussels, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Many of them contain intracellular chemoautotrophic bacterial symbionts.
Bathymodiolus thermophilus is a species of large, deep water mussel, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. The species was discovered at abyssal depths when submersible vehicles such as DSV Alvin began exploring the deep ocean. It occurs on the sea bed, often in great numbers, close to hydrothermal vents where hot, sulphur-rich water wells up through the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
Gigantidas tangaroa is a species of deep-sea mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the mussels.
Bathymodiolus platifrons, described by Hashimoto and Okutani in 1994, is a deep-sea mussel that is common in hydrothermal vents and methane seeps in the Western Pacific Ocean.
Hydrogen sulfide chemosynthesis is a form of chemosynthesis which uses hydrogen sulfide. It is common in hydrothermal vent microbial communities Due to the lack of light in these environments this is predominant over photosynthesis