Enrichment of diverse, surface-attached methylotrophic bacteria as a novel nutritional strategy in Sericosura sea spiders from a southern California methane seep

Sericosura sea spiders (family Pycnogonidae) from a methane seep along the southern California margin appear to host a methylotrophic bacterial community on their exoskeleton as an alternative food source. Sea spider-associated bacterial families included the Methylomonadaceae, Methylophagaceae (both gammaproteobacteria), and the Methylophilaceae (betaproteobacteria).