Methane-powered sea spiders: Diverse, epibiotic methanotrophs serve as a source of nutrition for deep-sea methane seep <i>Sericosura</i>.

ABSTRACT: Methane seeps harbor uncharacterized animal-microbe symbioses with unique nutritional strategies. Three undescribed sea spider species (family Ammotheidae; genus Sericosura) endemic to methane seeps were found along the eastern Pacific margin, from California to Alaska, hosting diverse methane- and methanol-oxidizing bacteria on their exoskeleton. δ¹³C tissue isotope values of in situ specimens corroborated methane assimilation (-45‰, on average). Live animal incubations with ¹³C-labeled methane and methanol, followed by nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry, confirmed that carbon derived from both compounds was actively incorporated into the tissues within five days. Methano- and methylotrophs of the bacterial families Methylomonadaceae, Methylophagaceae a

SUBMITTER: Dal Bo B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12232434 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature