IUCN Names Deep-Sea Mining Top Threat to Vent Molluscs

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has identified deep-sea mining as the biggest threat to a critically endangered deep-sea snail in its latest Red List update. The assessment covered all 201 known hydrothermal vent molluscs, finding that 125 of them, or 62 percent, face extinction risks linked to seabed mining. The findings land as the International Seabed Authority convenes its annual meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, which researchers describe as a pivotal moment for deciding the future of the industry.

 

The Lucky Lirapex

 

The species at the centre of the assessment is remarkable for its rarity. Discovered in 2021, scientists named the mollusc Lirapex felix, meaning the lucky lirapex. The name reflects the fortune involved in finding the roughly 2.5 millimetre snail at all. So far only two individuals have ever been recorded in a single location. That site lies 2,000 kilometres south of Madagascar in the Longqi vent field on the Southwest Indian Ridge.

Those two specimens proved sufficient for a full scientific description. The scientist who first described the species said they provided enough information on morphology and DNA. This allowed the animal to be described comprehensively and formally named. He noted that the scarcity of records likely indicates the species is naturally rare. That rarity makes it especially vulnerable to human impacts such as deep-sea mining.

 

Overlap With Mining Licences

 

The snail's only known habitat sits within an area targeted for mineral extraction. The location overlaps with a 15-year exploration licence for polymetallic sulphide minerals. That licence was issued by the International Seabed Authority to China. It is due to expire this year, raising questions about what follows. The overlap places the species directly in the path of potential future extraction.

The mechanism of harm is well understood by researchers. If exploitation-phase mining proceeds, sediment plumes could smother vent communities. Such plumes have the potential to kill the organisms that depend on these habitats. For a species known from only two individuals at one site, this poses an existential risk. The concentration of the population in a single location leaves no margin for loss.

 

A Precautionary Classification

 

Despite limited data, the species received the highest risk classification. Little is known about Lirapex felix beyond its two recorded specimens. Even so, it was classified as critically endangered on the Red List. This reflects a deliberately precautionary approach by the assessing body. The classification acknowledges risk in the face of scientific uncertainty rather than deferring judgement.

The assessment came with specific recommendations for further work. The IUCN has called for additional research into the impacts of mining on such species. It has also recommended surveys to determine whether the species exists at other vent sites. Such surveys could establish whether the population is truly confined to one location. This research would clarify how severe the extinction risk actually is.

 

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Scale of the Threat to Vent Species

 

The individual species sits within a much broader pattern of risk. The latest assessment added 17 vent-endemic species to the list of threatened species. The list now features all known hydrothermal vent molluscs, totalling 201 species. Of these, 125 were found to be threatened with extinction from deep-sea mining risks. That figure represents 62 percent of all known vent molluscs assessed.

The severity of the threat varies but remains substantial across the group. More than a third of the assessed species, some 37 percent, were classified as endangered or critically endangered. This concentration of risk within a single habitat type is striking. Hydrothermal vents host highly specialised communities found nowhere else. Their confinement to specific sites makes them particularly exposed to localised disturbance.

 

Policy Implications and Debate

 

The findings have intensified calls for restrictions on the industry. The oceans programme director at the Center for Biological Diversity said the research confirmed her greatest fear. She characterised deep-sea mining as capable of driving an ocean extinction crisis. On that basis, she called for an immediate ban on the practice. The call was timed to coincide with the International Seabed Authority's annual meeting.

Researchers frame the current moment as decisive for the sector. The scientist who described the species called the meeting a pivotal point for the future of deep-sea mining. Research over the last decade has found that undescribed and unknown deep-sea biodiversity could be irreparably harmed. He urged stakeholders to consider the species their future actions might drive to extinction. This appeal underscores the weight of decisions being made with incomplete knowledge of what exists.