This paper evaluates the analytical precision, accuracy and long‐term reliability of the U‐Pb age data obtained using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) with a frequency quintupled Nd‐YAG (λ = 213nm) laser ablation system. The U‐Pb age data for seven standard zircons of various ages, from 28 Ma to 2400 Ma (FCT, SL13, 91500, AS3, FC1, QGNG and PMA7) were obtained with an ablation pit size of 30 μm diameter. For ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ratio measurement, the mean isotopic ratio obtained on National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SRM610 over 4 months was 0.9105 ± 0.0014 (n = 280, 95% confidence), which agrees well with the published value of 0.9096. The time‐profile of Pb/U ratios during single spot ablation showed no significant difference in shape from NIST SRM610 and 91500 zircon standards. These results encouraged the use of the glass standard as a calibration standard for the Pb/U ratio determination for zircons with shorter wavelength (λ = 213 nm) laser ablation. But ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U and ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U ages obtained by this method for seven zircon standards are systematically younger than the published U‐Pb ages obtained by both isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID‐TIMS) and sensitive high‐resolution ion‐microprobe (SHRIMP). Greater discrepancies (3–4% younger ages) were found for the ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages for SL13, AS3 and 91500 zircons. The origin of the differences could be heterogeneity in Pb/U ratio on SRM610 between the different disks, but a matrix effect accuracy either in the ICP ion source or in the ablation‐transport processes of the sample aerosols cannot be neglected. When the ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U (= 0.2302) newly defined in the present study is used, the measured ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U and ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U ages for the seven zircon standards are in good agreement with those from ID‐TIMS and SHRIMP within ±2%. This suggests that SRM610 glass standard is suitable for ICP‐MS with laser ablation sampling (LA‐ICP‐MS) zircon analysis, but it is necessary to determine the correction factor for ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U by measuring several zircon standards in individual laboratories.

Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents are believed to represent a novel biogeographic province, and are host to many novel genera and families of animals, potentially indigenous to Indian Ocean hydrothermal systems. In particular, since its discovery in 2001, much attention has been paid to a so-called ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod because of its unique iron-sulfide-coated dermal sclerites and the chemosynthetic symbioses in its various tissues. Despite increasing interest in the faunal assemblages at Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents, only two hydrothermal vent fields have been investigated in the Indian Ocean. Here we report two newly discovered hydrothermal vent fields, the Dodo and Solitaire fields, which are located in the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) segments 16 and 15, respectively. Chemosynthetic faunal communities at the Dodo field are emaciated in size and composition. In contrast, at the Solitaire field, we observed faunal communities that potentially contained almost all genera found at CIR hydrothermal environments to date, and even identified previously unreported taxa. Moreover, a new morphotype of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has been found at the Solitaire field. The newly discovered ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has similar morphological and anatomical features to the previously reported type that inhabits the Kairei field, and both types of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods genetically belong to the same species according to analyses of their COI gene and nuclear SSU rRNA gene sequences. However, the new morphotype completely lacks an iron-sulfide coating on the sclerites, which had been believed to be a novel feature restricted to ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods. Our new findings at the two newly discovered hydrothermal vent sites provide important insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of vent-endemic ecosystems in the Indian Ocean.