A close-up on symbiont-bearing mussels (Bathymodiolus aff. boomerang) living on natural seepages of methane and sulfides in a giant pockmark of the deep Gulf of Guinea (3200 m depth).

Apart from shrimps and sea-cucumbers, a close-up on a mussel bed highlights some smaller but quite common inhabitants of cold-seep habitats, like limpets (Paralepetopsis n. sp.), snails (Provana n. sp.) and sea anemones. Most of the species featured on these pictures were discovered during the Biozaire programme. Some are still undescribed.

© Ifremer, Biozaire 2, 2001