Lipid characteristics of hydrothermal vent organisms from 9°N, East Pacific Rise
Lipid compositions are reported for three distinctive deep-sea hydrothermal vent invertebrate species: Riftia pachyptila, a vestimentiferan tubeworm; Bathymodiolus thermophilus, a mussel; and Halice hesmonectes, an amphipod crustacean. The lipid compositions of all these organisms were dominated by components characteristic of diets based on bacteria, with only very minor contributions from carbon derived from the oceanic photic zone. The δ13C values of sterols from R. pachyptila were consistent with de novo biosynthesis, whereas that of cholesterol from B. thermophilus corresponded to that from marine phytoplankton. The δ13C values of sterols from H. hesmonectes suggest that at least two distinct sources of sterols are available to these Crustacea. -from Authors
