The symbiotic relationships between species (e.g. Endo-symbotic bacteria living in inner cavity of Riftia pachyptila) will be examined and analyzed for understanding.

Symbiosis is unusually important in the vent ecosystem. Organisms such as the tube worm Riftia are completely dependent on endo-symbiotic bacteria for their nutrition and energy. Such an extreme form of symbiosis is not common in other ecosystems. Vent clams and mussels also depend on chemo-autotrophic bacteria for their metabolic energy. Clearly, then, an understanding of these relationships is necessary to a complete understanding of the vent community.

These relationships are best closely studied in the lab. The knowledge gained from these detailed studies will then be reinserted into the larger understanding of the vent community gained from long-term observations of communities at different habitats throughout the vent system. Samples of vent organisms, including young tube worms, will be collected by EVE and brought into the lab using the internal docking mechanism of the habitat. These samples will then be dissected for evidence of endosymbionts. Data from these studies will be compared with that from research as to the metabolism and byproducts of vent bacteria and Archaea, so as to come to a good understanding of the symbiotic relationships among vent fauna.

Zierenberg, Robert A., Adams, Michael W. W., Arp, Alissa J. 2000 Life in extreme environments: Hydrothermal vents. PNAS vol. 97, no.24, 12961-12962.