How Tubeworm Babies Are Dispersed to Colonize New Vent Sites Adam Marsh tag. The findings are reported in the May 3 issue of Nature.
Hydrothermal vents are very ephemeral.
Scientists have often wondered how tubeworms, which are sessile creatures and can't move about the seafloor, wind up at new vent sites. To find out how long a journey baby tubeworms can survive, the scientists first had to figure out how to culture them in the lab. Tubeworm larvae must withstand these cold temperatures as they are dispersed by the currents, hopefully to a home in warmer water near a vent site. The scientists found that tubeworm larvae do not develop a mouth in the first 34 days of development, so they can't obtain energy from food during this period to help them weather their ride on the currents. Instead, they must rely on an internal fuel supply.