Abstract
Improved techniques have demonstrated a remarkably high species diversity in the deep sea. Long-term environmental stability has resulted in establishment of diverse communities whose species have become biologically accommodated to each other. The deep-sea meiofauna (about 60–500 μm) mainly consists of foraminiferans and nematodes. The macrofauna is dominated by polychaetes, peracarid crustaceans, and bivalves. The major components of the megafauna are brittle stars bathyally, large scavenging fish and amphipods abyssally, and amphipods hadally. Biomass and numerical density decrease rapidly with distance from land. Biomass seems to be of the same order of magnitude for the three size groups, while meiofaunal density in the upper bathyal zone may be up to 1,400 individuals per 10cm2 and macrofaunal density 20,000 individuals per m2.
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