Life in the Deep Sea The Deep Sea Environment

200 - 11000 m depth

Angler fish photo Largest environment on earth
80% of ocean floor
=2X total land area above sea
level
Extremely poorly known even today
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Exploration
Environmental Zones Of The Deep Sea
Early explorers noted less O2 with depth,
The Bathyal Zone (200-4000m) therefore thought deep seas likely to be
Continental Slope Benthic Environments anoxic/devoid of life. Turned out to be wrong-
The Abyssal Zone (4000-6000m) trend reverses
below ~1000m
Continental Rise, Abyssal Plains,
Abyssal Hills and Mid Ocean Ridge and deepest
Benthic Environments waters are
The Hadal Zone (>6000m) Benthic generally
Trenches oxygenated
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The Deep Sea Pelagic Zone S4

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 Sampling and observation with ROVs and
Difficulty of exploration even today
manned submersibles
Remote sampling using grabs, dredges & nets
Hard to know how representative your samples
are

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Environmental Limitations On Deep Sea Life Light

Oxygen? Generally not limiting No sunlight below ~250m max
Kept high by combination. of Antarctic bottom Bioluminescence (minor)
currents and low oxygen consumption

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Temperature/Salinity Currents & Pressure
Very uniform
~-2 near poles to 7-8 C at 1000 m near equator Currents to 1m/sec
Warmer in Mediterranean (12-13 C) Filter feeders
Salinity also very uniform orient to currents
What about seasonal cycles? Pressure
1 atm/10m depth
1000 atm in deep
trenches!
High hydrostatic pressure
slows metabolic activity.
Slow growth & long lives!
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Currents & Pressure Food In The Deep Sea - major challenge!

Rate of bacterial decay is What are the sources?

reduced under high
hydrostatic pressure. from surface (photosynthesis based)
Organic material that Rains down as particles
settles onto the sea floor Transported in laterally in turbidity current
remains for a long time from chemosynthesis
before it decays.
Hydrothermal vents
It is thus more likely to
Cold-seep vents
be consumed by large
scavengers. Predation
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Food In The Deep Sea - major challenge! Food In The Deep Sea
Coastal productivity
What are optimal strategies? Transported by turbidity currents
Capture particles effectively Decreases away from coasts to very low levels
Take advantage of currents
Sticky nets, feeding structures
Keep your mouth wide open and pointing upwards
Vertical diurnal migration
Specialized organs for detection or capture of prey,
storage of food
Dig in the sediment
Be opportunistic (whalefall)
Lure prey with light
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Avoid capture with optical, camouflage, other strategies S 14
Get energy from chemosynthesis (sulfides, methane)

Pelagic Rain Pelagic Rain

Small particles settle 1-3m/day (i.e. takes 5-10 years to
reach abyssal plain)
Speed up if in aggregates (
(marine snow
snow) or fecal pellets
~90% is consumed in photic zone-little reaches bottom
Food chain over most of ocean floor is based on deposit
feeding
Windfalls of whales

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 Example: Whale-fall communities Deep-sea coral
-2891 m deep communities
-Monterey
Canyon
Non-photosynthetic corals
-Worms and
sea cucumbers Incredible biodiversity of reefs
More species of coral than in shallow
water!
New species of worm that feeds exclusively
1100 invertebrates on one reef in N
on whale carcasses Atlantic
How to get food? Roots that extend into bone Often species are endemic (especially
How to find mates? Female incorporates on seamounts)
dozens of males, larval/microscopic but Important role for fisheries
making gametes Slow growth, reproduction = very
Broadcast larvae widely, in hope that a few S 17 old systems and individuals S 18
will find other whales
http://w w w .mbari.org/new s/new s_releases/2004/w halefall.html
Challenging to study - early days!

before
Deep-sea coral communities Deep-sea trawling
and deep-sea reefs
Drag net along bottom
Incredibly destructive
Nationally restricted;
UN considering ban
after

Cold water, Widely distributed S 19 S 20

200-1500m depth (or more?)

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 Chemosynthesis on black smokers & other
hydrothermal vents/seeps
Normal photosynthesis (by photosynthesizing plants and
bacteria) vs. chemosynthesis by sulphur bacteria, archaea
and other microbes using chemical reducing agents for
energy sources
Leads to locally exceptionally high biomass and
productivity compared to surrounding deep sea
Types Of Organisms Encountered
Bony & cartilaginous fish, cephalopods
Benthic invertebrates mostly deposit or filter
feeders, few predators
Planktonic invertebrates-tendency towards
large body size
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Adaptations
Giant squid Body features which maximize chances of finding
Up to 60
60 (18m) long
a meal or mate
Eaten by sperm
whales Enormous mouths/ extrusible jaws
Can attack humans, Very sharp, grasping teeth in fish & body lures
but not common Expandable stomachs/body cavities
Very hard to track
and study

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 Fish adaptations

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More Deep Sea Adaptations

Ability to find food items at great distances for fish
Parasitism in dwarfed males (angler fish)
Body photophores for spacing, lures, camouflage
Bioluminescence is less common than in photic zone
Most deep sea animals are blind
Delicate tissues
Characteristics of deep ocean life
Few in number
Year-round reproduction
Small broods, slow growth, long life
Consistent with very low temperature
Surprisingly high diversity
Relate to consistent physical environment

Interesting ecosystems where unusual

species cluster: vents, seeps, deep-sea reefs,
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