''Bathymodiolus childressi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of deepwater

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

species in the family

Mytilidae Mytilidae are a family of small to large marine and brackish-water bivalve molluscs in the order Mytilida. One of the genera, ''Limnoperna'', even inhabits freshwater environments. The order has only this one family which contains some 52 gen ...

, the mussels. Although this species has been known since 1985,Childress J.J., Fisher C.R., Brooks J.M., Kennicutt M.C., II, Bidigare R. & Anderson A. (1986) A methanotrophic marine molluscan symbiosis: mussels fueled by gas. Science, 233, 1306-1308. it was formally described as a species in 1998.

Habitat

This species lives in cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. ''Bathymodiolus childressi'' is

stenothermal A stenotherm (from Greek στενός ''stenos'' "narrow" and θέρμη ''therme'' "heat") is a species or living organism only capable of living or surviving within a narrow temperature range. This type of temperature specialization is often seen ...

species living in temperatures ranging from 6.5 to 7.2 °C.Berger M. S. & Young C. M. (2006). "Physiological response of the cold-seep mussel ''Bathymodiolus childressi'' to acutely elevated temperature". ''Marine Biology'' 149(6): 1397-1402. However it was able to survive the temperature of 20 °C in the laboratory.

Symbiosis

This mussel harbors intracellular

methanotroph Methanotrophs (sometimes called methanophiles) are prokaryotes that metabolize methane as their source of carbon and chemical energy. They are bacteria or archaea, can grow aerobically or anaerobically, and require single-carbon compounds to su ...

ic bacteria in its gills. The bacteria provide carbon to the mussel.

Interspecific relationships

The snail '' Bathynerita naticoidea'' can detect beds of the mussel ''Bathymodiolus childressi''. It is attracted to water that has been altered by this species of mussel, but the nature of the attractant was not discovered yet.Dattagupta S., Martin J., Liao S., Carney R. S. & Fisher C. R. (2007). "Deep-sea hydrocarbon seep gastropod '' Bathynerita naticoidea'' responds to cues from the habitat-providing mussel ''Bathymodiolus childressi''". ''Marine Ecology'' 28(1): 193-198. This snail also feeds on

periphyton Periphyton is a complex mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic microbes, and detritus that is attached to submerged surfaces in most aquatic ecosystems. The related term Aufwuchs (German "surface growth" or "overgrowth") refers to the col ...

of methanotrophic bacteria that grow on the shells of ''Bathymodiolus childressi'', living on the decomposing

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

of the mussels and on byssal fibres of those mussels.

Etymology

This species was named after James J. Childress, a marine biologist who investigated the physiology of this mussel at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4869189 childressi Molluscs described in 1998 Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean