Vent faunas can be extremely prolific... I have seen images of huge
colonies (millions of individuals within the frame) of Lepetodrilus
sp, for instance. There are fissurellids, scissurellids, a new family
intermediate betweem Scissurellidae and Fissurellidae in shell
characters, mytilids, Provanna, Calyptogena (by far the largest in
size), wonderful stuff, and many species are extremely common.
Probably just the tip of the diversity iceberg has been scratched, as
the entire midocean-ridge system will be lined with these ventfields,
and samples have only been looked at or sampled in a VERY few
localities so far... it's expensive to get down there! Most of what
has reached the market is "Alvin" material, I believe.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
‚ Opinions stated are mine, not those of Otago University
"There is water at the bottom of the ocean"  - Talking Heads

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