Deep-sea larvae travel toward sunlight before returning to hydrothermal vents 2,000 meters down

Hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor host a broad range of rare and unusual ecosystems.

They can be spread far apart, yet there is often overlap among the creatures that inhabit them.

Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, are answering a long-standing question in this field about how creatures migrate between hydrothermal vents.

Their approach involves inspecting the chemical nature of limpet shells to reconstruct their likely journeys, yielding some surprising results. ...