The basic level of the food chain is chemoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, but it also includes animals such as the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata. R. exoculata live close to the hydrothermal fluid, ...

Caption Many rare seafloor species, such as these shrimp (Rimicaris hybisae) could be threatened when companies begin mining at mineral-rich sites near deep-sea hydrothermal vents.An international ...