Invertebrates
Vent Barnacle
Neolepas zevinae · also called hydrothermal vent barnacle
Clustering densely across hard surfaces around a scalding hydrothermal vent, a vent barnacle filters bacteria and chemical-rich particles straight from the current, tolerating toxic conditions that would kill nearly every one of its shallow-water relatives.
Overview
The vent barnacle, Neolepas zevinae, is a filter-feeding crustacean native to hydrothermal vent habitat recorded along sections of the East Pacific Rise. Its membership in a barnacle family found nowhere except hydrothermal vents, dense colonising clusters, and tolerance for extreme chemical conditions make it one of the more specialised filter feeders found anywhere in vent communities.
A barnacle rebuilt for a toxic world
While most barnacles filter ordinary plankton from shallow coastal water, the vent barnacle has adapted the same basic filter-feeding body plan to an entirely different, far harsher environment, straining bacteria and chemical-laden particles from water that would poison nearly any other barnacle species.
Status
Not Evaluated, known only from a limited number of naturally patchy hydrothermal vent sites now of interest for deep-sea mining.
Vent Barnacle: common questions
What does the vent barnacle eat?
This species is a filter feeder, straining bacteria and chemical-rich particles from the water flowing out of a hydrothermal vent, rather than relying on the plankton typical of most shallow-water barnacle species.
Is the vent barnacle related to barnacles found on rocks and boats?
It belongs to a family of barnacles found exclusively around deep-sea hydrothermal vents, unlike most barnacle species, which live attached to rocks, boat hulls, and other surfaces in shallow coastal water.
How does the vent barnacle survive such toxic conditions?
This species tolerates the toxic chemicals present in hydrothermal vent water, conditions that would be lethal to most shallow-water barnacle species, an adaptation specific to its vent-dependent lifestyle.
Does the vent barnacle move around?
No, this species remains permanently attached to a hard surface as an adult, relying entirely on the surrounding current to deliver the bacteria and particles it filters for food.