Fig. 1

Environmental characteristics of the mussel collection sites. a Map depicting the locations of the methane seep and hydrothermal vent fields sampled. Photographs are representative images of each sample site, showing the G. platifrons and Shinkaia crosnieri (squat lobster) dominated communities. Map created using Ocean Data View (ODV) v.5.0 (https://odv.awi.de). b Summary of the main geochemical parameters of the seawater surrounding the chemosynthetic colonies at the FR and IN sites, as well as the mean concentrations of heavy metals (mg/kg dry weight) in the gill tissues of G. platifrons. Note that site DY is geochemically similar to site IN