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Thousands of shrimp (Rimicaris exoculata) crowd around a black smoker at the Snake Pit hydrothermal vent field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The dark material gushing out of the chimney is rich in sulfides and other minerals. WHOI microbial ecologist Stefan Sievert and his colleagues recently identified several kinds of bacteria living in the gill chambers of the shrimp. Some of those bacteria have the ability to metabolize sulfides and other mineral compounds, raising the possibility that they contribute nourishment to the shrimp through a symbiotic association. The shrimp, in return, may keep the bacteria in prime positions near the sulfide-rich stream of vent fluid. (Alvin team, dive 2192, WHOI Archives)[back]
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