Scientists have long thought of deep-sea pelagic fish as nomadic wanderers, but now they suspect the fish may be meeting at ridges or seamounts to spawn.
Pelagic fish are those species thought to spend the bulk of their time in open water, as opposed to staying near the seafloor. Now the research being conducted as part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems program is suggesting new ways in which deep-sea ecosystems should be managed to prevent devastation by deep trawling activities.
The MAR-ECO research expeditions have also led to the discovery of as many as six new fish species and the collection of some unusually large deep-sea fish specimens.
The first public presentations of results from MAR-ECO are being made this week during the American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Explore further:
Submerged structure stumps Israeli archaeologists
