Deep-water hydrothermal vent host high-biomass communities based on chemoautotrophy supported by the metabolic activity of free-living and symbiotic bacteria associated to invertebrates, especially megafauna. Knowledge on the mechanisms of dispersal and the life cycle of vent species is essential to our understanding of the vent communities in terms of distribution, structure and temporal variation. In this study, I present some advances regarding the dispersal and life cycle of a dominant species of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) vent ecosystems, the alvinocaridid shrimp Rimicaris exoculata, and other related species. The methodological approaches applied include morphological descriptions of larvae, analysis of population biology and reproduction, and... |