A nicely integrated piece on physics & biology. I was going to say they
don't mention the words pogonophora or vestimentifera - but I see there's a
vestimentiferan slipped in.
Marsh, A. G., L. S. Mullineaux, C. M. Young, & D. T. Manahan. 2001. Larval
dispersal potential of the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila at deep-sea hydrothermal
vents. - Nature 411(6833):77-80.
First paragraph. "Hydrothermal vents are ephemeral because of frequent
volcanic and tectonic activities associated with crust formation. Although
the larvae of hydrothermal vent fauna can rapidly colonize new vent sites
separated by tens to hundreds of kilometres, the mechanisms by which
these larvae disperse and recruit are not understood. Here we integrate
physiological, developmental and hydrodynamic data to estimate the
dispersal potential of larvae of the giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila. At in
situ temperatures and pressures (2 °C and 250 atm), we estimate that the
metabolic lifespan for a larva of R. pachyptila averages 38 days. In the
measured flow regime at a fast-spreading ridge axis (9° 50' N; East Pacific
Rise), this lifespan results in potential along-ridge dispersal distances that
rarely exceed 100 km. This limited dispersal results not from the
physiological performance of the embryos and larvae, but instead from
transport limitations imposed by periodic reversals in along-ridge flows and
sustained episodes of across-ridge flow. The lifespan presented for these
larvae can now be used to predict dispersal under current regimes at other
hydrothermal vent sites."
--
Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.cri.nz>
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