Development of A Collection Device for the "Hottest" Known Animal, Alvinella Pompejana from Hydrothermal Vents

9730878 摘要 热液喷口群落的特点是利用地热能驱动有机碳的初级生产。 喷口群落的起源早于志留纪，至少在4.3亿年前。 由于大部分食物是本地生产的，生物体不依赖于表面产生的有机碳。 其中一个属，多毛类Alvinella，是在现代喷口发现的，显然从一开始就是这个群落的成员。 该属的成员的特点是生活在接近黑烟流出的地方，暴露在高达80摄氏度的极高温度下。 我们建议建立一个加热的压力保持容器，收集生活alvinellid和使用这些船上实验在现有的压力容器。 我们将测试它们的温度耐受性，并验证现场测量结果。 这应该提供了访问显然最耐热的动物已知，并允许我们开始调查的机制，使这种现象。 作为最后一个目标，我们将描述可能在地球早期发展起来的条件和代谢反应，这些条件和代谢反应可能是在一个从表面反射而来的避难所中延续下来的;热液喷口群落。

9730878 Abstract Hydrothermal vent communities are characterized by the use of geothermal energy to drive the primary production of organic carbon. The vent communities originated earlier than the Silurian, at least 430 million years ago. Because of the largely local production of food, the organisms are independent of surface produced organic carbon. One genus, the polychaete Alvinella, is found at modern vents and apparently has been a member of this community since the beginning. The members of this genus are characterized by a living habitat in close proximity to black smoker effulent which is exposed to extremely high temperatures of up to 80 oC. We propose to build a heated pressure retaining container to collect live alvinellids and use these for shipboard experiments in already existing pressure vessels. We will test their temperature tolerance and verify measurements made in situ. This should provide access to the apparently most heat tolerant animal known and allow us to begin to investigate the mechanisms allowing this phenomenon. As a final goal, we will describe conditions and metabolic responses which may have developed during the early period on earth and may have been carried over in a refuge from surface extinctions; the hydrothermal vent community.