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Biol. Bull. 208: 145-155. (April 2005)
© 2005 Marine Biological Laboratory

Characterization of Symbiont Populations in Life-History Stages of Mussels From Chemosynthetic Environments

Jennifer L. Salerno1, Stephen A. Macko2, Steve J. Hallam3, Monika Bright4, Yong-Jin Won5, Zoe McKiness6 and Cindy L. Van Dover1,*

1 Biology Department, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
2 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 2290
3 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, California 95039
4 Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althantstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
5 Dept. of Life Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Science C Building, 11-1 Daehyon-Dong, Sodaemun-Ku, Seoul, 120–750, Korea
6 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: clvand{at}wm.edu

The densities of chemoautotrophic and methanotrophic symbiont morphotypes were determined in life- history stages (post-larvae, juveniles, adults) of two species of mussels (Bathymodiolus azoricus and B. heckerae) from deep-sea chemosynthetic environments (the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent and the Blake Ridge cold seep) in the Atlantic Ocean. Both symbiont morphotypes were observed in all specimens and in the same relative proportions, regardless of life-history stage. The relative abundance of symbiont morphotypes, determined by transmission electron microscopy, was different in the two species: chemoautotrophs were dominant (13:1–18:1) in B. azoricus from the vent site; methanotrophs were dominant (2:1–3:1) in B. heckerae from the seep site. The ratio of CH4:H2S is proposed as a determinant of the relative abundance of symbiont types: where CH4:H2S is less than 1, as at the Lucky Strike site, chemoautotrophic symbionts dominate; where CH4:H2S is greater than 2, as at the seep site, methanotrophs dominate. Organic carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of B. azoricus ({delta}13C = –30{per thousand}; {delta}15N = –9{per thousand}) and B. heckerae ({delta}13C = –56{per thousand}; {delta}15N = –2{per thousand}) varied little among life-history stages and provided no record of a larval diet of photosynthetically derived organic material in the post-larval and juvenile stages.






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