Primary producers are the original source of food in the vent ecosystem, using chemical energy to create organic molecules. All other life depends on primary producers, and they have the greatest biomass in the community.
Primary consumers get their energy directly from the primary producers by eating or living symbiotically with them.
First order carnivores prey on the primary consumers and in turn are eaten by other animals.
Top order carnivores eat other consumers and carnivores but are rarely hunted by other creatures. Because they are separated from the primary food production by several layers, top order carnivores have the smallest biomass in the food web.
