The collection of live specimens will provide material for stomach content analyses and for laboratory studies on respiration and reproduction, and feeding, digestion and assimilation. Each of these parameters is important for accurately modeling energy flow through these fundamental links in the mesopelagic food web. At depths between 650 and 850 meters, a pronounced oxygen-minimum layer constitutes the physical and chemical lower boundary of the mesopelagic community in Monterey Bay. This layer is an ecologically important transition zone between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic faunas, and contains a unique assemblage of species. We believe that microorganisms are essential agents in the creation and maintenance of these layers.
Bioluminescence is a pervasive characteristic of midwater animals.
Understanding its mechanisms and how it is utilized is a key to understanding mesopelagic ecology. In 1999 we broadened this avenue of our research by initiating studies on the molecular biology of luminescent and fluorescent proteins from gelatinous zooplankton. This work continues to expand our knowledge of the kinds of photoproteins found in deep-sea animals, and is contributing to progress in ecology, taxonomy, and biochemistry.