Gene flow and dipersal in deep-sea hydrothermal vent animals
In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine. Station Biologique de Roscoff: Paris. ISSN 0007-9723; e-ISSN 2262-3094, more
Also appears in:(1998). Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Biology: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 20-24 October 1997. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 39(3-4). Station Biologique de Roscoff: Roscoff. 219-392 pp., more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Vrijenhoek, R.C.
- Shank, T.
- Lutz, R.A.
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| Abstract |
The fragmented and ephemeral nature of hydrothermal vents in the eastern Pacific suggests that endemic organisms should possess well-developed dispersal capabilities. Early attempts to infer dispersal rates of vent species focused on mollusks, because egg sizes and larval shell-remnants reflect larval life-span and feeding mode (Lutz et al., 1986). Reservations exist, however, about such indirect methods to infer dispersal "potential"; consequently, a number of investigators have begun to examine larval development, growth, and longevity more directly, with the goal of determining the limits to dispersal potential (Young, 1994). Recently researchers have applied genetic approaches to infer dispersal modes and estimate rates of gene flow among populations of hydrothermal vent organisms (reviewed by Vrijenhoek, 1997). Herein, we relate these genetic studies to a parallel study of colonization of a nascent vent habitat (9i50'N latitude on the East Pacific Rise; Shank et al., 1998). We used the FST method to estimate migration rates (i.e., Nm values) from gene frequency data (see Vrijenhoek, 1997, for a discussion of methods and the "island" and "stepping-stone" models of population structure). Nm is the virtual number of migrants per generation required to explain the observed degree of diversification (FST values) among colonies. |
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