Elemental concentrations of hydrothermal vent organisms from the Galápagos Rift

Concentrations of 40 elements were determined in tissues and whole bodies of mussels (Bathymodiolus thermophilus) and/or whole bodies of limpets (Neomphalus fretterae) collected from the submarine thermal springs on the Galápagos Rift in 1977. Concentrations of Ag, As, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Sr, and Zn were comparable or elevated relative to those of intertidal mollusks, which have been utilized as indicators of anthropogenic trace-metal contamination. Both species contained concentrations of some elements (e.g. Ag, As, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Zn) which corresponded with the elevated levels of those elements discharged from hydrothermal vents. Many elements were most enriched in the gills and digestive glands of the mussels. Iron:manganese ratios of those tissues were similar to ratios of pelagic and transitional sediments, indicating that metal-rich suspended particulates had been absorbed onto mucous membranes. Comparisons with other benthopelagic organisms were precluded, since the present data represent essentially the only trace-element analyses of deep-sea macroinvertebrates.