Deep-sea food falls: first observation of a natural event in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Concentrations of scavengers attracted by bait in the deep sea are documented by time-lapse photography and results of baited traps. During a remotely operated vehicle deployment in the Molloy Deep, the deepest depression of the Fram Strait, the carcass of a natant decapod, Pasiphaea tarda Kroyer, 1845, was discovered at 79°08.4′N and 002°49.85′E in a depth of 5,551 m. The carcass was covered by hundreds of individuals of Uristes sp., a scavenging lysianassoid amphipod. After documentation of this event, both the carcass and the majority of amphipods were collected. This is the first reported observation and sampling of an ongoing feeding process of scavengers on a natural food fall in the deep sea.