Recent excitement over the development of an initiative to generate DNA sequences for all
named species on the planet has in our opinion generated two major areas of contention as …

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are submarine springs where nutrient-rich
fluids emanate from the sea floor. Vent and seep ecosystems occur in a variety of geological …

Hydrothermal vent communities from 76 areas lying at depths from 0 to 4100 m were split
into two groups—“deep” and “shallow-water”, based on the occurrence of vent obligate …

▪ Abstract Molecular tools have profoundly rearranged our understanding of metazoan
phylogeny. Initially based on the nuclear small ribosomal subunit (SSU or 18S) gene, recent …

Insight into the origin and early evolution of the animal phyla requires an understanding of
how animal groups are related to one another. Thus, we set out to explore animal phylogeny …

Systematics has developed rapidly during the past two decades. A multitude of new
methods and contributions from a diversity of biological fields including molecular genetics …

Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents provide ephemeral habitats for animal communities that
depend on chemosynthetic primary production. Sporadic volcanic and tectonic events …

Since their discovery in 1977, hydrothermal vent communities have provided many surprises
about life in the deep sea and in extreme environments. It has been suggested that vent …

Biogeography seeks to distinguish patterns in the distribution of species and to determine
causal processes. Hydrothermal vent habitats have several properties that invite …

The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vent fauna, kilometres deep in the oceans, is a
great achievement of 20th-century marine biology. The deep-sea hydrothermal food web …