The reproduction and dispersal methods of several vent organisms will be investigated. Of prime interest is tube worm Riftia pachyptila, a sedentary species in which there are both male and female organisms, and no known mechanism of genetic exchange. As well, it is unknown how sedentary vent organisms disperse their offspring to different vent sites throughout the ocean.

Though the questions seeking to be answered by this experiment are not pressing or particularly necessary to the completion of other experiments, they are very deep mysteries of the vent ecosystem. It is known that tube worms sexually reproduce, but the mechanism for this genetic exchange is completely unknown. As well, there is genetic evidence that sedentary organisms at distant vent sites can be closely related. This suggests that vent organisms have a means of dispersing their young throughout the ocean, protecting the species from extinction in the volatile vent environment, in which an entire thriving vent system can die in mere weeks . Again, the mechanism for this dispersal is unknown.

It is at this time unclear where to begin to look for the unknown mechanisms of reproduction and dispersal. It is hoped that results of the first six months of research aboard Atlantis II will provide guidance as to where to begin to search for these important mechanisms.

“Vent Biology” WHOI Dive and Discover. Accessed 24 Sept. 2001.