September 6, 2021: Snails and Egg Cases
Image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust - Cruise NA095. Download larger version (jpg, 3.9 MB).
The deep sea is critical to today’s Earth and society while also providing fertile economic potential. The deep seafloor is not simply a mass of mud, but instead an assortment of unique habitats covering 63 percent of the globe. Methane seeps are key examples of this: areas where microbes harness the leaking greenhouse gas methane as a source of food.
Seeps are home to many animals, increasing biodiversity in the deep by creating food from chemical energy and structure for deep-sea animals to lay their eggs on. For example, this image taken during the Gradients of Blue Economic Seep Resources expedition shows a mass of snails (gastropods called Neptunea) and their egg masses (the yellow towers) using clumps of tubeworms as a place to anchor in the otherwise soft sediment of the deep.
From: Sustainable Use of Ocean Resources: Blue Economy of Seeps.