Incredible diversity lies in small animals which live in and on the sediment. Amphipods (upper left two photos), ophiuroids (brittle stars; middle bottom), holothurians (sea cucumbers; right middle), and polychaetes (annelid worms; all other photos) are examples of species associated with sediments in this realm of our planet. Expanded branchiae (top, center) provide oxygen to this polychaete’s circulatory system (family Trichobranchidae). Jaws are used by some species to eat smaller organisms, but a species of polychaete (center) (family Dorvilleidae) uses its black jaws to consume bacteria in the deep sea. Photo courtesy of CRROCKS/NSF.
INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010
INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010: Biodiversity of the Deep, Reducing and Chile Margins
NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery
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