Vertical Ecology of the Pelagic Ocean: Quantified Patterns and New Perspectives

TL;DRAbstract

Applications of acoustic and optical sensing and intensive, discrete-depth sampling, in concert with collaborative international research programs, have substantially advanced our knowledge of pelagic ecosystems in the 17 years since the last Deep-water Fishes FSBI Symposium. Although the epipelagic habitat is the best-known, and remote sensing and high-resolution modeling allow near-synoptic investigation of upper layer biophysical dynamics, ecological studies within the mesopelagic and deep-demersal habitats have begun to link lower and upper trophic level processes. Bathypelagic taxonomic inventories are far from complete but recent projects (MAR-ECO and CMarZ, supported by the Census of Marine Life program) have quantitatively strengthened distribution patterns previously described for fishes and provide new perspectives. Synthesis of net and acoustics studies suggests that the biomass of low-latitude mesopelagic fishes may be 2-3 orders of magnitude greater than the total global c

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