News

Hydrothermal vents were first discovered along the Galapagos Rift in 1977 and are home to at least 500 animal species about whose biology much remains to be learnt. One such animal group is the family Bythograeidae - the only family of crabs truly endemic to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The first bythograeid vent crab to be described was Bythograea thermydron in 1980. This is the dominant crab species on most vent sites along the East Pacific Rise and on the Galapagos Rift. More recently, two other species, B. laubieri and B. vrijenhoeki, have been discovered. In addition to alvinellid tube worms, these two crab species dominate the hydrothermal vent faunas of the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge.

Professor Paul Tyler of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), together with Dr Ana Hilário of both NOCS and the University of Aveiro and other Portuguese colleagues have been studying the reproductive biology of vent organisms for many years. They have studied ovary development in females of B. laubieri and B. vrijenhoeki collected on the Sebastian’s Steamer vent site (37° 47.48’ S, 110° 54.85’W; 2204 m depth) - the southernmost vent area known on the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. The specimens were collected during an expedition aboard the American ship the RV Atlantis in 2005. The crabs were lured into a baited trap moored in position using the deep-sea submersible Alvin, which is operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts.