Hydrothermal vents host fragmented habitats and are increasingly becoming the target of deep-sea mining projects for their mineral resources. Managing a future sustainable exploitation requires a good understanding of the resilience of biological populations to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, hence a better knowledge of species life history traits and their capacity to replenish local populations or colonise distant sites. In this context, we studied the reproductive biology and recruitment patterns of three main representative hydrothermal vent limpets of the South West Pacific back-arc basins, Lepetodrilus schrolli, Lepetodrilus fijiensis and Shinkailepas tollmanni, in relation to habitats and environmental conditions. Limpets were collected in Bathymodiolus and Ifremeria nautilei habitats at several vent sites in the Manus, North Fiji and Lau back-arc basins, and the Futuna Volcanic Arc during the CHUBACARC cruise in 2019. Population structure, gonad morphology, and gametogenesis were analysed for each species, and fecundity was analysed for the two Lepetodrilus species. Both Lepetodrilus spp. were gonochoric and displayed a sexual size dimorphism with females larger than males. Gametogenesis was continuous or quasi-continuous with all stages of oocyte development present in the gonad and a maximum oocyte size of 124 µm for L. schrolli and 126 µm for L. fijiensis. Fecundity varied between 52 and 205 with a mean of 119 ± 74 (SD) matured oocytes per female in L. schrolli and between 80 and 605 with a mean of 366 ± 183 (SD) matured oocytes per female in L. fijiensis, and was independent of the limpet size for both species. Shinkailepas tollmanni is also a gonochoric gastropod with continuous gametogenesis and a maximum oocyte size of 153 µm. For each species, size-frequency distributions were consistent with a continuous recruitment although episodic larval supply could blur the signal. There was no evidence of an influence of the habitat type nor environmental conditions on population structures.

热液喷口拥有破碎的栖息地，并且越来越成为深海采矿项目的矿产资源目标。管理未来的可持续开发需要充分了解生物种群对自然和人为干扰的恢复能力，从而更好地了解物种的生活史特征及其补充当地种群或殖民远方的能力。在此背景下，我们研究了西南太平洋弧后盆地三种主要代表性热液喷口帽贝（Lepetodrilus schrolli、Lepetodrilus fijiensis和Shinkailepas tollmanni ）的繁殖生物学和补充模式，以及与栖息地和环境条件的关系。2019 年 CHUBACARC 航行期间，在马努斯、北斐济和劳弧后盆地以及富图纳火山弧的几个喷发点的Bathymodiolus和Ifremeria nautilei栖息地收集了帽贝。对每个帽贝的种群结构、性腺形态和配子发生进行了分析种，并对两种Lepetodrilus种的繁殖力进行了分析。两者均属Lepetodrilus spp. 是雌雄异体，并表现出雌性体型大于雄性体型的二态性。配子发生是连续或准连续的，卵母细胞发育的所有阶段都存在于性腺中，L. schrolli的最大卵母细胞大小为 124 µm， L. fijiensis的最大卵母细胞大小为 126 µm 。L. schrolli 的生育力在 52 到 205 之间变化，平均每只雌性有 119 ± 74 (SD) 成熟卵母细胞；在L. fijiensis中，繁殖力在 80 到 605 之间变化，平均每只雌性有 366 ± 183 (SD) 成熟卵母细胞。与两个物种的帽贝大小无关。Shinkailepas tollmanni也是一种雌性腹足动物，具有连续配子发生和最大卵母细胞大小为 153 µm。对于每个物种，大小频率分布与连续招募一致，尽管间歇性幼虫供应可能会模糊信号。没有证据表明栖息地类型或环境条件对种群结构有影响。