BIOLOGY OF THE LUCKY STRIKE HYDROTHERMAL FIELD

Newly discovered hydrothermal vent communities at Lucky Strike on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (37 degrees 18'N, 32 degrees 16'W) are comprised of an invertebrate fauna sufficiently different from known vent faunas o f TAG and Snake Pit to consider Lucky Strike part of a new biogeograph ic province. The dominant component of the fauna is a new species of m ussel, and the most unusual feature of the fauna is an echinoid echino derm, Echinus sp. An abundance of small mussels (< 5 mm) indicates a r ecent recruitment event at Lucky Strike, and modal analysis of length- frequency data indicate a discontinuous recruitment process in space a nd time. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd