Tube worms (Lamellibrachia sp.) at a cold seep, Gulf of Mexico. These tubeworms live at deep-sea cold seeps where hydrocarbons are leaking out of the seafloor. They are entirely reliant on internal, sulphide-oxidizing bacterial symbionts for nutrition. A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulphide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs. The cold is relative to the very warm conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps produce a habitat supporting several endemic species. | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007, NOAA-OE |
Bildgröße: | 3412 px × 2559 px |
Modell-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
Eigentums-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
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