Abstract
The levels of ash, lipid, carbohydrate, protein and calories in the body walls of 3 abyssal holothuroids of the Bay of Biscay [Benthogone rosea Koehler, Paelopatides gigantea (Verrill) and Psychropotes longicauda Theel] are similar to those found in the body walls of shallow-water holothuroids. The biomass of abyssal holothuroids in terms of calories comprises an important fraction of the total biomass in the deep sea; at 2 000 m depth, the holothuroids correspond to one-sixth of the total biomass. However, the numerical and caloric densities of abyssal holothuroids are 4 orders of magnitude less than those of shallow-water holothuroids, although the sizes and caloric contents of individuals are of similar magnitude.
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Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa
Contribution No. 742 of Centre Océanologique de Bretagne
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Sibuet, M., Lawrence, J.M. Organic content and biomass of abyssal holothuroids (Echinodermata) from the Bay of Biscay. Mar. Biol. 65, 143–147 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397078
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397078