Their ability to tolerate low oxygen levels and the regular length of day and night in the study area are also key aspects.

To read more see our paper:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

MEESO funded by @ec.europa.eu
#Ocean#TwilightZone#MesopelagicFish
#Research
#MarineEcology

In the Arabian Sea, the biomass of lanternfishes is particularly high, but dominated by only a few species.

Much of the high production of the Arabian Sea is channelled via zooplankton to the stock of lanternfishes due to the low abundance of competing small pelagic fish.

Here's my take on a vampire squid dressed up as Bela Lugosi's version of Dracula.

Here’s the twist: it doesn’t drink blood.

It lives in the dark, deep sea.

But Instead of hunting the living, it drifts silently through the deep, collecting “marine snow”, tiny flakes of dead plankton and detritus sinking from the surface.

So behind the Dracula cape hides not a monster, but a gentle recycler keeping the deep sea clean.

More about the squid:
www.mbari.org/animal/vampi...

#spookyspecies #biodiversity