Alvinocarididae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
, originally described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986 from samples collected by
DSV ''Alvin'', from which they derive their name. Shrimp of the family Alvinocarididae generally inhabit deep sea
hydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
regions, and hydrocarbon
cold seep
A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. ''Cold'' does not mean that the temperature of the see ...
environments.
Carotenoid
Carotenoids (), also called tetraterpenoids, are yellow, orange, and red organic compound, organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, and Fungus, fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpki ...
pigment has been found in their bodies. The family Alvinocarididae comprises 7 extant genera.
Species
'' Alvinocaris''
*''Alvinocaris alexander''
Ahyong, 2009 – South Pacific Ocean, southern Kermadec ridge, Rumble V
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...
(at depths of ) and Brothers Caldera (at depths of )
hydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
fields. ''A. alexander'' closely resembles ''A. williamsi'' from the Menez Gwen site on the
mid-Atlantic ridge
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North Ame ...
*''Alvinocaris brevitelsonis''
Kikuchi & Hashimoto, 2000 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-
Okinawa Trough
The (also called , literally China-Ryukyu Border Trough ) is a seabed feature of the East China Sea. It is an active, initial back-arc rifting basin which has formed behind the Ryukyu arc-trench system in the West Pacific. It developed where th ...
, at a depth of .
*''Alvinocaris dissimilis''
Komai & Segonzac, 2005 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-Okinawa Trough; recognised among the
paratype
In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...
s of ''A. brevitelsonis''.
*''Alvinocaris komaii''
Zelnio & Hourdez, 2009 – West Pacific Ocean, Eastern Lau Spreading Centre, hydrothermal vents, at depths of . ''A. komaii'' is common among
chemoautotrophic
A Chemotroph is an organism that obtains energy by the oxidation of electron donors in their environments. These molecules can be organic ( chemoorganotrophs) or inorganic (chemolithotrophs). The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototro ...
mussel, ''
Bathymodiolus brevior''.
*''Alvinocaris longirostris''
Kikuchi & Ohta, 1995 – West Pacific Ocean, Okinawa Trough, Iheya Ridge, Clam and Pyramid hydrothermal vent fields,
Sagami Bay
lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the ...
seeps, seamounts of Kermadec Ridge off New Zealand; Type locality: West Pacific Ocean, Okinawa Trough, Iheya Ridge, Clam hydrothermal vent field
*''Alvinocaris lusca''
Williams & Chace, 1982 – East Pacific Ocean, Galapagos Rift and vent fields on the East Pacific Rise at
9° N and
13° N, at depths of ; Type locality: East Pacific Ocean, Galapagos rift. ''A. lusca'' is the only species represented in the East Pacific Ocean.
*''Alvinocaris markensis''
Williams, 1988 – North Atlantic Ocean, Snake Pit, TAG, Logatchev, Broken Spur hydrothermal vent fields of the mid-Atlantic ridge (MAR); Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit hydrothermal vent field.
*''Alvinocaris methanophila''
Komai, Shank & Van Dover, 2005 – North-western Atlantic Ocean, Blake Ridge Diapir , at a depth of ; similar to ''A. muricola''; associated with mussel beds.
*''Alvinocaris muricola'' Williams, 1988 – Cold Seeps, Gulf of Guinea possibly
Blake Ridge
The Blake Plateau lies in the western Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern United States coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Blake Plateau lies between the North American continental shelf and the deep ocean basin ...
cold seep
A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. ''Cold'' does not mean that the temperature of the see ...
and Barbados
Accrectionary Prism; Type locality: Gulf of Mexico, west Florida escarpment, from cold brine seep, , at a depth of .
*''Alvinocaris niwa''
Webber, 2004 – Brothers Caldera and Rumble V seamount, south Kermadec Ridge; Type locality: South Pacific Ocean, south Kermadec ridge, Brothers Caldera.
*''Alvinocaris stactophila'' Williams 1988 – Gulf of Mexico, Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, , at a depth of .
*''Alvinocaris williamsi''
Shank & Martin, 2003 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of .
'' Chorocaris''
*''Chorocaris chacei''
Williams & Rona, 1986 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit, TAG, Lucky Strike and Logatchev hydrothermal vent fields; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, TAG hydrothermal vent field, at depths of .
*''Chorocaris paulexa''
Martin & Shank, 2005 – South Pacific Ocean, southern
East Pacific Rise
The East Pacific Rise is a mid-ocean rise (termed an oceanic rise and not a mid-ocean ridge due to its higher rate of spreading that results in less elevation increase and more regular terrain), a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along ...
, Rapa Nui Homer hydrothermal vent site, ; occurs in large numbers on
black smokers
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
.
*''Chorocaris vandoverae''
Martin & Hessler, 1990 – Pacific Ocean, Mariana back arc basin; Type locality: West Pacific Ocean, Mariana back arc spreading center, Alice Springs hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of . ''C. vandoverae'' is often found with mussels and snails of the genus ''
Alviniconcha''.
'' Mirocaris''
*''Mirocaris fortunata''
Martin & Christiansen, 1995 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Logatchev, TAG, Broken Spur, Rainbow, Snake Pit, Lucky Strike and Menez Gwen hydrothermal fields; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Azores, Lucky Strike hydrothermal field, , at a depth of . ''M. fortunata'' has the broadest range of any alvinocaridid shrimp. It is dominant on chimney walls or chimney bases in the southern hydrothermal vent sites (Broken Spur, Rainbow, Lucky Strike, Menez Gwen).
'' Nautilocaris''
*''Nautilocaris saintlaurentae''
Komai & Segonzac, 2004 –
North Fiji Basin
The North Fiji Basin (NFB) is an oceanic basin west of Fiji in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is an actively spreading back-arc basin delimited by the Fiji islands to the east, the inactive Vitiaz Trench to the north, the Vanuatu/New Hebrides ...
, White Lady Hydrothermal vent site, , at a depth of ; morphologically intermediate between the genera ''Mirocaris'' and ''Alvinocaris''.
'' Opaepele''
*''Opaepele loihi''
Williams & Dobbs, 1995 – Pacific Ocean,
Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount
Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount (previously known as Lōʻihi) is an active submarine volcano about off the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii. The top of the seamount is about below sea level. This seamount is on the flank of Mauna Loa, the la ...
, , at a depth of .
'' Rimicaris''
![Rimicaris-exoculata](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Rimicaris-exoculata.jpg)
*''
Rimicaris exoculata''
Williams & Rona, 1986 – North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, Snake Pit, TAG, Broken Spur, Lucky Strike, Logatchev and Rainbow hydrothermal vent fields, at depths of ; Type locality: North Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic ridge, TAG vent field, , at depths of . ''R. exoculata'' is the most extensively studied species to date, and occurs in active swarms that may be as dense as 2500 individuals per square metre. It occurs on chimney walls in the temperature range .
*''Rimicaris hybisae''
Nye, Copley & Plouviez, 2011 - Atlantic Ocean,
Mid-Cayman Rise
The Mid-Cayman Rise or Mid-Cayman Spreading Center is a relatively short (110 km long) divergent plate boundary in the middle of the Cayman Trough. It forms part of a dominantly transform boundary that is part of the southern margin to the ...
,
Piccard Piccard is a French surname, a variant form of Picard.
Notable people with this name
;Members of the Swiss Piccard family:
* Auguste Piccard (1884–1962), physicist, balloonist, hydronaut
* Bertrand Piccard (born 1958), psychiatrist, balloon ...
and
Von Damm hydrothermal vent fields.
*''Rimicaris kairei''
Watabe & Hashimoto, 2002 – Indian Ocean,
Central Indian Ridge
The Central Indian Ridge (CIR) is a north–south-trending mid-ocean ridge in the western Indian Ocean.
Geological setting
The morphology of the CIR is characteristic of slow to intermediate ridges. The axial valley is 500–1000 m deep; ...
, Kairei hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of ; also found in Edmonds hydrothermal vent field, NNW of Kairei hydrothermal vent field.
'' Shinkaicaris''
*''Shinkaicaris leurokolos''
Kikuchi & Hashimoto, 2000 – West Pacific Ocean, Mid-Okinawa Trough, Minami-Ensei Knoll hydrothermal vent field, , at a depth of .
References
External links
* Includes video of ''Mirocaris fortunata'', ''Chorocaris chacei'' and ''Rimicaris exoculata''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2840617
Caridea
Animals living on hydrothermal vents
Decapod families
Extant Jurassic first appearances