Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

What would life around a hydrothermal vent on Europa be like?

+0
−0

Hydrothermal vents are thought to exist on Europa. On Earth, these vents are surrounded by all manner of freakish and bizarre looking creatures, mainly various worms, crabs and octopodes.

Europa's ocean(s) are much deeper than on Earth, I imagine that pressure might become an issue. Also, Vulcanoctopus Hydrothermalis (below) appears to have vestigial eyes. Europan life form's would also have never been exposed to light, would they evolve eyes? Perhaps eyes that see in a different part of the light spectum (eg: infrared?). What about bioluminescence?

Vulcanoctopus Hydrothermalis the horrifying Cephalopod
From here.

Assuming that would also evolve to live around Europa's vents, would it be similar to terrestrial vent life? Would most creatures have eyes and/or bioluminescence, or would feelers be more practical?

Would the pressure prevent the evolution of complicated organisms, i.e larger crabs, squid, etc.?

My own suspicion is that they would evolve many feelers and mostly be very slow in order to stretch out what little sustinence they can catch. Jelly-fish creatures might also be possible. Any other sugestions for adaptations are welcome.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/17662. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

0 answers

Sign up to answer this question »