Alvinocarididae
Encyclopedia
Alvinocarididae is a family
of shrimp
, originally described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986 from samples collected by DSV Alvin
, from which they derive their name. Shrimp of the family Alvinocarididae generally inhabit deep sea hydrothermal vent
regions, and hydrocarbon cold seep
environments. Carotenoid
pigment has been found in their bodies. The family Alvinocarididae comprises 7 extant genera.
Mirocaris
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, originally described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986 from samples collected by DSV Alvin
DSV Alvin
Alvin is a manned deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in the same factory used to manufacture breakfast cereal-producing...
, from which they derive their name. Shrimp of the family Alvinocarididae generally inhabit deep sea hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...
regions, and hydrocarbon cold seep
Cold seep
A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool...
environments. Carotenoid
Carotenoid
Carotenoids are tetraterpenoid organic pigments that are naturally occurring in the chloroplasts and chromoplasts of plants and some other photosynthetic organisms like algae, some bacteria, and some types of fungus. Carotenoids can be synthesized fats and other basic organic metabolic building...
pigment has been found in their bodies. The family Alvinocarididae comprises 7 extant genera.
Alvinocaris
- Alvinocaris alexander Ahyong, 2009 – South Pacific Ocean, southern Kermadec ridge, Rumble V seamountSeamountA seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...
(at depths of 367 metre) and Brothers Caldera (at depths of 1196 metre) hydrothermal ventHydrothermal ventA hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...
fields. A. alexander closely resembles A. williamsi from the Menez Gwen site on the mid-Atlantic ridgeMid-Atlantic RidgeThe Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South... - Alvinocaris brevitelsonis Kikuchi & Hashimoto, 2000 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-Okinawa TroughOkinawa TroughThe is a seabed feature of the East China Sea. It is an active, initial back-arc rifting basin which has formed behind the Ryukyu arc-trench system in the West Pacific. It developed where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasia Plate....
, at a depth of 705 m (2,313 ft). - Alvinocaris dissimilis Komai & Segonzac, 2005 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-Okinawa Trough; recognised among the paratypeParatypeParatype is a technical term used in the scientific naming of species and other taxa of organisms. The exact meaning of the term paratype when it is used in zoology is not the same as the meaning when it is used in botany...
s of A. brevitelsonis. - Alvinocaris komaii Zelnio & Hourdez, 2009 – West Pacific Ocean, Eastern Lau Spreading Centre, hydrothermal vents, at depths of 1880 metre. A. komaii is common among chemoautotrophic mussel, Bathymodiolus brevior.
- Alvinocaris longirostris Kikuchi & Ohta, 1995 – West Pacific Ocean, Okinawa Trough, Iheya Ridge, Clam and Pyramid hydrothermal vent fields, Sagami BaySagami BaySagami Bay , also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the...
seeps, seamounts of Kermadec Ridge off New Zealand; Type locality: West Pacific Ocean, Okinawa Trough, Iheya Ridge, Clam hydrothermal vent field - Alvinocaris lusca Williams & Chace, 1982 – East Pacific Ocean, Galapagos Rift and vent fields on the East Pacific Rise at 9° N9th parallel northThe 9th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 9 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Indian Ocean, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, South America and the Atlantic Ocean....
and 13° N13th parallel northThe 13th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 13 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean....
, at depths of 2450 metre; Type locality: East Pacific Ocean, Galapagos rift. A. lusca is the only species represented in the East Pacific Ocean. - Alvinocaris markensis Williams, 1988 – North Atlantic Ocean, Snake Pit, TAG, Logatchev, Broken Spur hydrothermal vent fields of the mid-Atlantic ridge (MAR); Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit hydrothermal vent field.
- Alvinocaris methanophila Komai, Shank & Van Dover, 2005 – North-western Atlantic Ocean, Blake Ridge Diapir , at a depth of 2155 m (7,070.2 ft); similar to A. muricola; associated with mussel beds.
- Alvinocaris muricola Williams, 1988 – Cold Seeps, Gulf of Guinea possibly Blake Ridge cold seepCold seepA cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool...
and Barbados Accrectionary Prism; Type locality: Gulf of Mexico, west Florida escarpment, from cold brine seep, , at a depth of 3277 m (10,751.3 ft). - Alvinocaris niwa Webber, 2004 – Brothers Caldera and Rumble V seamount, south Kermadec Ridge; Type locality: South Pacific Ocean, south Kermadec ridge, Brothers Caldera.
- Alvinocaris stactophila Williams 1988 – Gulf of Mexico, Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, , at a depth of 534 m (1,752 ft).
- Alvinocaris williamsi Shank & Martin, 2003 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of 850 m (2,788.7 ft).
Chorocaris
- Chorocaris chacei Williams & Rona, 1986 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit, TAG, Lucky Strike and Logatchev hydrothermal vent fields; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, TAG hydrothermal vent field, at depths of 3620 metre.
- Chorocaris paulexa Martin & Shank, 2005 – South Pacific Ocean, southern East Pacific RiseEast Pacific RiseThe East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
, Rapa Nui Homer hydrothermal vent site, ; occurs in large numbers on black smokers. - Chorocaris vandoverae Martin & Hessler, 1990 – Pacific Ocean, Mariana back arc basin; Type locality: West Pacific Ocean, Mariana back arc spreading center, Alice Springs hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of 3640 m (11,942.3 ft). C. vandoverae is often found with mussels and snails of the genus AlviniconchaAlviniconchaAlviniconcha is a genus of deep water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Provannidae.These snails are part of the fauna of the hydrothermal vents....
.
MirocarisMirocarisMirocaris is a genus of shrimp associated with hydrothermal vents. Sometimes considered the only genus of the family Mirocarididae, Mirocaris is usually placed in the family Alvinocarididae. The genus contains two species, M. fortunata and M. indica; the former species M. keldyshi is now considered...
- Mirocaris fortunata Martin & Christiansen, 1995 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Logatchev, TAG, Broken Spur, Rainbow, Snake Pit, Lucky Strike and Menez Gwen hydrothermal fields; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Azores, Lucky Strike hydrothermal field, , at a depth of 1624 m (5,328.1 ft). M. fortunata has the broadest range of any alvinocaridid shrimp. It is dominant on chimney walls or chimney bases in the southern hydrothermal vent sites (Broken Spur, Rainbow, Lucky Strike, Menez Gwen).
Nautilocaris
- Nautilocaris saintlaurentae Komai & Segonzac, 2004 – North Fiji Basin, White Lady Hydrothermal vent site, , at a depth of 2000 m (6,561.7 ft); morphologically intermediate between the genera Mirocaris and Alvinocaris.
Opaepele
- Opaepele loihi Williams & Dobbs, 1995 – Pacific Ocean, Loihi seamountLoihi SeamountLōihi Seamount is an active undersea volcano located around off the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii about below sea level. It lies on the flank of Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on Earth...
, , at a depth of 980 m (3,215.2 ft).
Rimicaris
- Rimicaris exoculata Williams & Rona, 1986 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit, TAG, Broken Spur, Lucky Strike, Logatchev and Rainbow hydrothermal vent fields, at depths of 1700 metre; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, TAG vent field, , at depths of 3620 metre. R. exoculata is the most extensively studied species to date, and occurs in active swarms that may be as dense as 2500 individuals per square metre. It occurs on chimney walls in the temperature range 15–30 °C (59–86 F).
- Rimicaris kairei Watabe & Hashimoto, 2002 – Indian Ocean, Central Indian RidgeCentral Indian RidgeThe Central Indian Ridge is a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, traversing the western regions of the Indian Ocean...
, Kairei hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of 2424 m (7,952.8 ft); also found in Edmonds hydrothermal vent field, 160 km (99.4 mi) NNW of Kairei hydrothermal vent field.
Shinkaicaris
- Shinkaicaris leurokolos Kikuchi & Hashimoto, 2000 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-Okinawa Trough, Minami-Ensei Knoll hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of 705 m (2,313 ft).