Microorganisms as food resources at deep‐sea hydrothermal vents

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Abstract
We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to examine the diversity of microbial populations consumed as foods at deep‐sea hydrothermal vents. Invertebrate consumers at Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridge vent sites had variable carbon isotope compositions, implying the use of more than one microbial food resource. δ13C values for consumer invertebrates at Gorda ranged between −13.2‰ (polynoid polychaete) and −43.7‰ (limpet); within Gorda microhabitats, δ13C compositions of invertebrate species were also not uniform, differing by as much as 8–19‰. At the Juan de Fuca site, δ13C values showed a wide range (−14.6 to − 33.9‰) for nine invertebrate species collected from a dense community colonizing the surface of a sulfide flange. Carbon isotope differences between tubeworm symbioses and consumer invertebrates within microhabitats suggest that these symbioses may play a minor role as nutritional resources in vent food webs. Nitrogen isotope compositions of consumer species from vents were consistently depleted in 15N relative to animals collected away from vents. δ15N compositions of some vent individuals are among the lowest measured in any organism (<−10‰) and likely reflect relatively abundant supplies of inorganic nitrogen compounds used by microbial populations at vents.

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