Working in a rare, “natural seafloor laboratory” of hydrothermal vents that had just been rocked by a volcanic eruption, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and other institutions have discovered what they believe is an undersea superhighway carrying tiny life forms unprecedented distances to inhabit the post-eruption site.
One such “pioneer species,” Ctenopelta porifera, appears to have traveled over 300 kilometers to settle at the site on the underwater mountain range known as the East Pacific Rise. “Ctenopelta had never been observed before at the…study site, and the nearest known population is 350 km to the north,” said Lauren S. Mullineaux, a senior scientist in WHOI’s biology department.
Full story: Undersea superhighway: Long-distance larvae speed to new undersea vent homes – LiveScience