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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scientists directly observed tubeworms and other animals living in shallow, fluid-filled cavities beneath lava at hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. In a 2024 study, five of six excavated cavities about 10 centimetres high contained visible animals. How those animals reach the cavities—and how far this habitat extends—remain open questions.
What did scientists discover beneath the seafloor?
The discovery was made at Fava Flow Suburbs, a hydrothermal vent area on the East Pacific Rise, about 2,515 metres below the ocean surface. During a 2023 expedition, researchers used the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian to lift sections of lobate lava and inspect cavities beneath them.
The lava shelves were roughly 10–15 centimetres thick, with shallow cavities beneath them. Across six excavated cavities, five were about 10 centimetres high and contained visible animals. A smaller cavity, about 5 centimetres high, showed no visible subseafloor animals. This is a count from a small number of excavations, not an estimate for the entire vent field.
The researchers were attempting an in-situ experiment related to larval settlement when exposing one cavity revealed animals beneath the visible seafloor. The primary study, by Monika Bright and co-authors in Nature Communications, was published on 15 October 2024. The URL in that link is malformed; omit link and use accurate source only. [Invalid]
What animals were found?
The study reports tubeworms, including Riftia pachyptila and Oasisia alvinae, along with polychaete worms, limpets and microbial mats. It does not establish that every listed animal occurred in every cavity.
These are animals associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities. The 2024 finding is not the discovery of the first vents: active hydrothermal vents were first encountered in 1977 near the Galápagos, where researchers found tube worms and clams. Vent ecosystems can be supported by chemosynthesis, in which organisms use chemical energy rather than sunlight, as described by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
How can animals live beneath the ocean floor?
The excavated cavities were shallow spaces beneath lava, not a deep underground cavern system. Researchers directly observed animals in those spaces, which lie within the seafloor crust and are affected by hydrothermal fluids.
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The authors propose that seawater entering the hydrothermal circulation system may carry larvae into the shallow crust, where they can settle in cavities or cracks, or emerge where fluids discharge at the seafloor. Some mobile animals may also crawl between cavities and the surface through cracks. These are proposed routes; the observations do not prove how every species arrived or establish that the same process applies at every vent.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the discovery changes—and what remains unknown
Many hydrothermal vent animals host bacterial symbionts that oxidize reduced chemicals and fix carbon. Finding animal habitat below the visible seafloor means that estimates of geochemical fluxes may need to account for communities beyond those seen on the surface. The authors write: “The discovery of vent endemic animals below the visible seafloor shows that the seafloor and subseafloor faunal communities are connected.”
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThat connection is the study authors’ interpretation of their observations. The total three-dimensional extent of the cavities and their animal communities has not been quantified, and the paper does not provide a population-wide abundance estimate or a global-area figure for this habitat. The authors say the finding reinforces the importance of protecting hydrothermal vents while its extent remains unknown.
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Sources
- Monika Bright et al., “Animal life in the shallow subseafloor crust at deep-sea hydrothermal vents,” Nature Communications, 15 October 2024.
- Julia Jacobo, ABC News, “Giant tubeworms part of thriving ecosystem found under the seafloor in the Pacific,” 15 October 2024.
- Laura Castañón, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “Breakthroughs below the surface,” 16 October 2025.
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