New paper on diversity of Mollusca at a shallow vent

Lead-authored paper on shallow water hydrothermal vent molluscs published in journal Marine Biodiversity! Read online for free here: http://rdcu.be/wKVR

Mar Biodiv, doi:10.1007/s12526-017-0804-2

This paper reports diversity of molluscs inhabiting shallow water (10-30m deep only!) hydrothermal vent ecosystem off Kueishan Island, Taiwan. Unlike deep-sea hydrothermal vents no endemic molluscs were found, and the species present were a subset of species present in surrounding areas that are apprently able to tolerate the ‘extreme’ environment. We report a total of 13 core species including 12 gastropods and one chiton, and discuss their ecology at the shallow vents.

Representative specimens of the 13 mollusc species collected from shallow hydrothermal vents off Kueishan Island, Taiwan