Where is Riftia found?
Riftia pachyptila lives on the ocean floor near hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise, more than a mile under the sea (Cary et al. 1989).
What is the source of hydrothermal vents?
Hydrothermal vents are the result of seawater percolating down through fissures in the ocean crust in the vicinity of spreading centers or subduction zones (places on Earth where two tectonic plates move away or towards one another). The cold seawater is heated by hot magma and reemerges to form the vents.
Where are tube worms found?
the Pacific Ocean
Giant tube worms have been found throughout the Pacific Ocean where deep sea hydrothermal vents have been discovered. The average depth of these vents is 5,000 feet (1,500 meters). Entire communities of shrimps and crabs have been found living around these giants.
Why do giant tube worms live near hydrothermal vents?
In a process called chemosynthesis, symbiotic bacteria inside the tubeworm use hydrogen sulfide spewed from the vents as an energy source for themselves and for the worms.
Where do vent worms live?
hydrothermal vents
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, at the same time it can tolerate extremely high hydrogen sulfide levels.
What is the source of the sulfur crystals in the trophosome of tube worms?
a. The trophosome filters toxic sulfides from the water and converts it to sulfur crystals, which are less toxic.
What is the source of energy in deep sea hydrothermal ecosystem?
The three main sources of energy and nutrients for deep sea communities are marine snow, whale falls, and chemosynthesis at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.
What is the predominant energy source at hydrothermal vents?
Nature.
What is the source of energy for giant tube worms and clams that live at hydrothermal vents?
The sources of energy in these ecosystems are hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and other inorganic chemicals that are abundant in the water that rises from the vents. Some species of bacteria can use these inorganic compounds in chemical reactions to produce sugar and other organic molecules in a process called chemosynthesis.
How do tube worms grow?
They are one of the fast growing organism on earth. The adult tube worms are attached and when a vent stops venting they will die. The sexes are separate and a fertilized egg grows into a larval form. They produce a larval form which swims in the water for up to a month and then will settle to colonize a new vent site.
What do hydrothermal vent worms eat?
Instead of feeding like most other animals, these worms depend on symbiotic bacteria inside them that convert the hydrogen sulfide, carbonates or hydrocarbons (depending on the mineral content of the water) from the vent water into organic compounds for energy .
Which organism forms the primary source of food for a deep sea community at a hydrothermal vent?
The chemosynthetic bacteria forms a thick layer on the sea bed and attracts many other organisms to feed on them. These chemosynthetic bacteria form the base of the food chain as they are the primary producers of the deep sea hydrothermal vent ecosystem.