The original description was made by Desbruyères & Laubier (1980, pages 268-273) as the first known member of the alvinellids. In 1986, they refined their description (page 2229) and identified another species, Alvinella caudata.
PLOS ONE: Thermal Limit for Metazoan Life in Question: In Vivo Heat Tolerance of the Pompeii Worm
provided by EOL authors
The thermal limit for metazoan life, expected to be around 50°C, has been debated sincethe discovery of the Pompeii worm Alvinella pompejana, which colonizes black smoker chimney walls at deep-sea vents...
