Researchers have discovered that sea spiders, which live near methane seeps on the seafloor, cultivate and consume microbial species that feed on the energy-rich gas. The discovery expands our understanding of organisms relying on symbiotic relationships with microbes in these extreme environments.
Shana Goffredi and her team found three new species of sea spiders from the genus Sericosura, which are abundant only near methane seeps in the Pacific Ocean. Unlike other sea spiders that primarily eat invertebrates, these creatures appear to get most of their nutrition by consuming a distinctive set of bacterial species on their bodies.
The bacteria, known as “microbial fur coats,” grow in dense clusters on the exoskeletons of the sea spiders and metabolize methane and methanol from the seeps. To confirm this relationship, the researchers used a radioactive labelling technique to track how carbon from methane was consumed by the sea spiders. Their findings suggest that these sea spiders use their “lips” and three tiny teeth to eat the bacteria, with layers of growth displaying markings like lawnmower tracks.
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2485354-sea-spiders-farm-methane-eating-bacteria-on-their-bodies