Mega- and macrofauna of the hydrothermally active submarine Piip Volcano (the southwestern Bering Sea)

Who Lives in the Hot Heart of the Cold Sea? A New Species of Provanna (Caenogastropoda: Provannidae) from the Hydrothermal Zone of Piip Volcano, Northwestern Pacific

“…Species composition and patterns of occurrence of gastropods in methane seep communities are close to those in the background ecosystems, while gastropod association of Piip Volcano has features typical for some type of extreme habitats (e.g., low species diversity and high abundance) [7]. It has been suggested [7,8] that at least two of nine snail species recorded on Piip Volcano belong to taxa living only in chemosynthetic ecosystems. One of the two-Parvaplustrum wareni Chaban, Schepetov, Ekimova, Nekhaev et Chernyshev, 2022-was described by us earlier and was also present in the geothermal zones off Oregon, Eastern Pacific [9].…”

“…Piip volcano is the northernmost (approximately 55 • N and 167 • E) hydrothermal region in the Pacific known to date [7,8]. The volcano is located in the central part of the Volcanologists underwater mountain massif, located on the border of the Bering Sea and the open part of the Pacific Ocean.…”

“…Biologically the areas of hydrothermal activity on the Piip Volcano are marked by bacterial mats and beds of vesicomyid clam Calyptogena pacifica Dall, 1891 (the latter have been registered only on the southern summit) [8]. The number of macro-and megabenthic species recorded in these areas are 31 species for the northern summit and 56 species for the southern summit [8]. However, the vast majority of these species are shared with background ecosystems [7,8].…”

“…However, the vast majority of these species are shared with background ecosystems [7,8]. Among all the benthic fauna of the Piip Volcano, only three species have been recorded exclusively in the communities of bacterial mats and clam beds: the new species of the genus Provanna, amphipod Onesimoides sp., and gastropod Parvaplustrum wareni [8].…”

“…Specimens of Provanna were found in seven samples (Figure 1) (Table 1). See also Nekhaev et al [7] and Rybakova et al [8] for more detailed information about sampling procedure. After the collection, the samples were fixed with 96% ethanol or 4% buffered formalin.…”