If you could please help me with this little thing before i go to bed. I have been working on it all day ?

Question

Are these organisms Producers? Or Primary Consumers?

Pompeii Worm

Vent Crab

Tube Worm

Black Swallower

Tripod Fish

I think that the Pompeii worm is a producer because it has bacteria that it creates into food too eat.

And that goes for the Tube Worm as well

But am i correct?

Answer 1

pompeii worm ---Nutritional relations among invertebrates from the hydrothermal vent fields at the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) were studied via the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope approach. A large number of specimens of different vent species from different MAR vent fields were analysed, providing a general picture of the community structure. The isotopic composition at each vent field presents the same general trend. There is an obvious dichotomy of the trophic structure, with the mussels being significantly depleted in 13C and shrimps being significantly enriched in 13C. MAR and Pacific vent fields present the same picture, despite a different species composition. Primary consumers are divided into main groups according to their δ13C signature: >−15 (shrimps) and <−20‰ (mussels). Vent predators are tightly linked to one or the other group, but a mixed diet cannot be excluded. Bathyal species are top predators, making incursions into the vent fields to profit from the large biomass. Taking into account the above associations, a descriptive trophic model was elaborated. At the base of the food chain the chemolithotrophic bacteria predominate. Four trophic levels were then distinguished: primary consumers, feeding only on bacteria; mixotrophs feeding on bacteria and small invertebrates; vent predators feeding only on small invertebrates; and finally top predators that are mainly constituted by deep-sea fauna.

for Vent Crab

Where does this crab live?

At vent sites in the eastern Pacific Ocean among dense clusters of tubeworms at an average depth of 2.7 kilometers (1.7 mi).  



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What does it eat?  

Like other crabs, the vent crab seems to have a very good sense of smell. This is important in locating food. We’ve observed it feeding on several species of deep-sea worms, as well as clams and mussels. Also, some studies have suggested that the adult crabs feed on bacterial mats. These are colonies of bacteria so dense they are visible to the naked eye.

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How abundant is this crab?

It’s present in such high numbers at vent sites that Alvin’s pilots actually use it as an indicator that we are approaching an active vent field.





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It appears that this crab has eyes. Can it see in the dark? How does it find prey?  

The growth stage beyond the larval stage is called the megalopa. At this stage, the crab has well-developed eyes that can sense light levels expected at depths around 1,000 meters in the water column. In contrast, once the megalopae develop into adult crabs, they have much smaller, probably non-functional eyes.  

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Why do you think the megalopa stage is red, and the adult stage is white?  

The bright red coloration seen in the megalopa (post-larval stage) is due to high concentrations of carotenoid pigments. In contrast, the adult crabs have low concentrations of carotenoids.





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Why are you studying it?

What most intrigues me about this crab is how it colonizes new vents. Vent fields may be separated by many hundreds of kilometers, so how do new sites become colonized? To find out what strategies or mechanisms this crab uses, we are studying how its early life stages (larvae) disperse and where they develop.

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Do these crabs inhabit vent sites in other oceans in addition to the Pacific?  

There are several genera and species of vent crabs. For example, Bythograea thermydron, Bythograea microps, and Cyanograea are found along the East Pacific Rise, while Austinograea williamsi is common in the western Pacific. Segonzacia mesatlantica is found in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Atlantic Ocean.





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Are these crabs good swimmers?

When we did our laboratory studies at atmospheric pressure (which is more than 250 times less than the pressure of the deep-sea environment), we found that megalopae are very good swimmers. Speeds in warm water were comparable to those of the fastest-swimming megalopae of shallow-water forms like the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. Even at low temperatures typical of bottom waters near the vents (2–5°C), megalopae are capable of sustained swimming speeds of 4 centimeters per second. That’s fast!  

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How do you maintain them in the lab?  

We are able to maintain the larval stages and small juveniles at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. However, the adults are pressure-sensitive and do not survive long at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, we must keep them in pressure chambers.





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Is there anything else we should know about vent crabs?

There are many interesting and important aspects of the biology of these crabs that we do not know about. For example, we do not know how long it takes for the larvae to develop or where these larvae develop. We do not know how long they live, and more importantly we still do not know how they colonize new vents.  



for tube worm--

Resembling giant lipsticks, tubeworms (Riftia pachyptila) live over a mile deep on the Pacific Ocean floor near hydrothermal vents. They may grow to about 3 meters (8 ft) long. The worms' white tube home is made of a tough, natural material called chitin (pronounced "kite-in").

Tubeworms have no mouth, eyes, or stomach ("gut"). Their survival depends on a symbiotic relationship with the billions of bacteria that live inside of them. These bacteria convert the chemicals that shoot out of the hydrothermal vents into food for the worm. This chemical- based food-making process is referred to as chemosynthesis.

Since a tubeworm has no mouth, how do bacteria enter the worm? Scientists have found that, during its earliest stages, the tubeworm does have a mouth and gut for bacteria to enter. But as the worm grows, these features disappear!

While the tubeworm depends on the bacteria that live in its body for energy and food, sometimes tubeworms provide food for other deep-sea dwellers. Fish and crabs may nibble off the tubeworm's red plume

for black swallower---The black swallower (Chiasmodon niger) is a deep sea fish that has the ability to extend its stomach 3 times its size so that it can swallow fish that are bigger than itself. It can be found in deep seas up to 1,500 meters or in hot tropical waters. It creates its own light because of the darkness found in some parts of the Pelagic zone. The black swallower can grow up to 25 centimeters.

forTripod Fish--Tripod fish are relatively small, the largest known specimen having measured only 37 centimeters (15 in),[citation needed] but the three elongated fins of the tripod fish may extend to nearly one meter (3 ft 3 in) in length. The fish is slender, deeper than it is wide and with very small eyes that probably are not useful at the depths at which the fish lives. Tripod fish are very sensitive to the vibrations of other animals in the water. In addition to its tripods, the fish also has unusually large pectoral fins. Tripod fish have been found at depths of anywhere from 900m to 3500m (2950-11500 ft), and are distributed in all oceans in the equatorial regions.

The tripod fish is a relatively sedentary fish. It spends much of its adult life standing on the ocean bottom on its fins. The fish stands facing the prevailing current, and hunts by extending its unusually long pectoral fins into the current and waiting for the small crustaceans on which it feeds to simply bump into its fins. The fish grasps its prey in the pectoral fins and directs it toward its mouth.

The extensions of the pelvic and caudal fins are stiff enough for the fish to stand on them for (presumably) extended periods of time. However, deep sea researchers have succeeded in surprising the fish enough to make it swim; when it swims, the tripods seem to be quite flexible

thanks .