
Ridgeia piscesae: The
only species of tubeworm on the Juan de Fuca Ridge is Ridgeia piscesae.
This species can take many different shapes depending on exactly where it
is living. In fact, the different growth forms look so different that scientists
originally thought that there were five different species of Ridgeia on
the JdFR. We now believe that the different body shapes are due to differences
in the flow of energy rich vent fluid to animals in different environments,
kind of like the way that some plants grows very differently in shade and
in full sun. Two very different growth forms can be seen in these pictures;
a short & fat growth form (less than a foot long) at a community we
call Strawberry Fields and a long & skinny type (often over 3 feet long
and as big around as a pencil) from one of our long term study sites named
Easter Island.