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A Little Crabby

Scientists collected this 8mm crab larva at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent site where an eruption of lava had recently covered the site. Adults of this species (Bythograea thermydron) were common before and after the eruption, but their planktonic larvae were more abundant afterwards. This image is from a guide to larvae at hydrothermal vents, created by WHOI researchers Susan Mills and Stace Beaulieu with funding from the National Science Foundation, the WHOI Deep Ocean Exploration Institute, and the Biogeography of Deep-water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss) project of the Census of Marine Life.(Image by Susan Mills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)