November 26, 2021: Crab
Image courtesy of MARUM, University of Bremen and NOAA-Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Download larger version (jpg, 647 KB).
A large crab of the genus Paralomis crawls on the volcanic sediment and rock at West Mata. This underwater volcano was explored during the Submarine Ring of Fire 2012: Northeast Lau Basin expedition, and scientists found that while eruptive activity had at least temporarily ceased at West Mata, the existence and persistence of hydrothermal habitats and the development of the hydrothermal vent communities continued.
From: Seamount Eruptions: Windows to the Development of Hydrothermal Vent Biological Communities.