Fortuitous insights into the ecology of a recently charted deep-sea hydrothermal vent, using snails’ feet

Abstract

Here we present the results from a shotgun sequencing effort on foot tissues from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent endemic limpet. We present the complete mitochondrial genome of the hydrothermal vent endemic gastropod Peltospira smaragdina (Gastropoda, Peltospiridae) for the first time. This species is characteristic of circa-Azores hydrothermal vent ecoregion and provides a candidate environmental DNA (eDNA) indicator of active hydrothermal vent sites. The results also suggest that the epilithic biofilm on the newly discovered Moytirra hydrothermal vents is dominated by Sulfurimonas –like microbes and corresponds with similar studies on hydrothermal hosted microbial communities. The association between Peltospira and Sulfurimonas is presented as potentially a holobiontic relationship, with both the snail and the microbial biofilm. We highlight the efficacy of using non-traditional sampling to develop a broader ecosystem understanding.