Methane seeps of the deep sea: A bacteria feast for lithodid crabs

Cold seeps are the basis for a surprising diversity in the desert-like deep sea. Off the coast of Costa Rica, an international team of scientists documented lithodid crabs of the genus Paralomis sp. grazing bacterial mats at a methane seep. The analysis results and a time-lapse video, published in the online journal PLOS ONE, show that not only sessile organisms benefit from the productivity around the cold seeps.

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