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Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 300 (2004) 253– 272 /locate/jembe Deep pelagic biology Bruce H. Robison * Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Rd., Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA Abstract The deep pelagic habitat is a vast volume of cold, dark water where food is scarce and bioluminescence is the principal source of light and communication. Understanding the adaptations that allow animals to successfully inhabit this daunting realm has been a difficult challenge because investigators have had to conduct their work remotely. Research in the deep water column is going through an essential transformation from indirect to direct methods as undersea vehicles provide unprecedented access, new capabilities, and new perspectives. Traditional methods have accurately documented the meso- and macro-scale zoogeographic patterns of micronekton and zooplankton, as well as their distribution and migration patterns in the vertical plane. The new in situ technologies have enabled advances in studies of behavior, physiology, and in particular, the role of gelatinous animals in deep pelagic ecology. These discoveries reveal a deep-water fauna that is complex and diverse and still very poorly known. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Behavior; Deep sea; Ecology; Pelagic fauna; Physiology; Undersea vehicles 1. Introduction: the habitat The waters that fill the ocean basins constitute the largest living space on Earth. This vast habitat is home to the largest animal communities on the planet—largest in terms of biomass, in numbers of individuals, and in areal extent. Despite its obvious significance to the biosphere, and more than a century after the re