The earliest evidence of deep-sea vertebrates.

Vertebrate macroevolution has been punctuated by fundamental habitat transitions from shallow marine origins to terrestrial, freshwater, and aerial environments. Invasion of the deep sea is a less well-known ecological shift because of low fossilization potential and continual loss of abyssal fossil record by ocean floor subduction. Therefore, there has been a lack of convincing evidence of bottom-living vertebrates from pre-Paleogene deep seas.

Microbiomes of Hadal Fishes across Trench Habitats Contain Similar Taxa and Known Piezophiles.

Hadal snailfishes are the deepest-living fishes in the ocean, inhabiting trenches from depths of ∼6,000 to 8,000 m. While the microbial communities in trench environments have begun to be characterized, the microbes associated with hadal megafauna remain relatively unknown. Here, we describe the gut microbiomes of two hadal snailfishes, (Mariana Trench) and (Kermadec Trench), using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.

Capillary absorption spectroscopy for high temporal resolution measurements of stable carbon isotopes in soil and plant-based systems.

Capillary Absorption Spectroscopy (CAS) is a relatively new analytical technique for performing stable isotope analysis. Here, we demonstrate the utility of CAS by recording and quantifying variation in C in controlled and biologically relevant applications. We calibrated CAS system response to increased CO, with an observed ∼4‰ increase in measured ΔC for each 0.

sp. nov. (Crustacea: Amphipoda) exhibits ontogenetic vertical stratification across abyssal and hadal depths in the Atacama Trench, eastern South Pacific Ocean.

S.I. Smith in Scudder, 1882 (Crustacea: Amphipoda) are prevalent scavengers of the benthopelagic community from bathyal to hadal depths.