Deep-Sea Invertebrates

Abstract

Until the mid-1960s it was believed that oceanic diversity was concentrated in shallow water around coasts and declined with both depth and distance from land as food resources became more remote. The first reports of unexpectedly high species diversity in bottom living communities arrived in 1967 with samples collected using a new technique: the epibenthic sled (Hessler and Sanders, 1967). Although many were initially sceptical of the conclusions, the deep-sea environment has been an active area of research and is now known to support communities rich in species, high in endemism and often ecologically unique. In terms of species numbers alone, the marine environment provides a relatively minor proportion of the global total.