![\"Vent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Low-Res_Image-2.jpg\")
(Left) A vent-dwelling\u00a0limpet\u00a0retaining\u00a0its\u00a0brown larval shell. (Right)\u00a0A\u00a0swimming\u00a0larva\u00a0with two earlike structures called velum – 2026 Yahagi et al. CC-BY-ND<\/p>\nDespite being some of the most hostile environments on Earth, with spewing boiling water and bone-crushing pressure, deep-sea hydrothermal vents teem with life.<\/p>\n
These ecosystems can be hundreds of kilometres apart on the ocean floor, yet you\u2019ll find an overlap in the species that inhabit them. So how do these tiny, poor-swimming creatures migrate between them?<\/p>\n
A team from the University of Tokyo conducted research to find out.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur previous studies suggested that plankton-feeding larvae of hydrothermal vent animals disperse in surface waters, where they can feed on phytoplankton and be transported by strong currents over long distances,\u201d explains Takuya Yahagi, an assistant professor at the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, directly observing or tracking these microscopic larvae in the open ocean is extremely difficult,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n
As part of their latest research efforts, the team collected three species of limpet larvae from vents on the Kaikata Seamount in the Northwest Pacific using research vessels. Working in such extreme environments posed challenges, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed animals that had retained tiny larval shells, and such specimens are not commonly collected from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Fortunately, my colleague Yasunori Kano obtained suitable specimens during research cruises,\u201d says Yahagi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second challenge was analysing the larval shells themselves. These shells are less than 1 millimetre in size and only about 10 micrometres thick.<\/p>\n
(Left) A vent-dwelling\u00a0limpet\u00a0retaining\u00a0its\u00a0brown larval shell. (Right)\u00a0A\u00a0swimming\u00a0larva\u00a0with two earlike structures called velum – 2026 Yahagi et al. CC-BY-ND<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to analyse them very carefully while avoiding contamination from shells formed after settlement. Advances in analytical technology allowed us to obtain reliable chemical records from these tiny shells.\u201d<\/p>\n