FIRST EVIDENCE OF BENTHIC COMMUNITIES BASED ON CHEMOSYNTHESIS ON THE NAPOLI MUD VOLCANO (EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN)

Some molluscan valves attributed to Myrtea sp. (Lucinidae), Vesicomya sp. and another undetermined Vesicomydae were sampled in 1993 (cruise TTR3/Leg2) and 1994 (cruise UM94) by coring on the top of the Napoli D ome, a mud volcano located on the Mediterranean Ridge, at about 1900 m of water depth. These bivalves belong to an unknown, apparently rich benthic community associated to the sulphides and methane-rich emissio ns that characterize the Napoli Dome. Outside the Mediterranean, deep- sea Lucinidae and Vesicomyidae are associated with cold-seeps and hydr othermal vents and are known to be sustained by bacterial chemosynthet ic activity based on sulphide and/or methane oxidation. The same expla nation is given for this newly discovered deep Mediterranean fauna, fi rstly described here.