A stunning discovery was made by University of Victoria researchers in the western Pacific Ocean off Gham last spring. Atop of molten sulfur ponds on oceanic volcanoes, where surface temperatures alone would cause water to boil, were tightly packed, unharmed flatfish, some up to 12 centimeters long. They live 120 to 150 meters below the surface in an area thought uninhabitable, heated both volcanically by lava and hydrothermically by super-heated water, in densities of up to 300 per square meter.
The big question is what energy sources are available to support such abundant life. Next expedition will take place on the volcanic sea floor off New Zealand in April, at which time the assistance of a physiologist will be needed. No other fish is known to survive temperatures of 100 C. The one thing they did determine about feeding habits was that dead fish, possibly killed off by volcanic material in overlying waters, then falling out of the water onto the top of the volcano, were jumped on and consumed. I suspect this will cause a rash of proposals to discover life on some nearby hot planets. Keeping such a flatfish as a pet would prove a challenge, once you got it home alive. I thought it a bit ironic to recall that the notorious Zackaria Sitchen (sp?) believed that humankind, or Eden itself, originated in Indonesia, then moved west across to India. Well, now we've found earthly life that would definitely survive warmer waters. For more info go to: web.uvic.ca/~dower/pub/Flatfish (sorry, can't get a link to stick) Natalia _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
