Tiny larvae of deep-sea organisms, such as this 350-micron-long larva of a deep-sea gastropod, Bathymargarites symplector, are the aquatic animal equivalent of seeds. The larvae are dispersed in the deep sea, carried by oceanic flows, and settle at vent sites where they find nutrients to grow.
{From the Photographic Identification Guide to Larvae at Hydrothermal Vents in the Eastern Pacific by S.W. Mills, S.E. Beaulieu, and L.S. Mullineaux http://www.whoi.edu/science/B/vent-larval-id]. (Photographic Identification Guide to Larvae at Hydrothermal Vents in the Eastern Pacific)[back]
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