Systematics is nowadays facing new challenges with the introduction of new concepts and
new techniques. Compared to most other phyla, phylogenetic relationships among sponges …

The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002–2010) helped foster internationally-
coordinated studies worldwide focusing on exploration for, and characterization of new deep …

Since the first discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Galápagos Rift in 1977,
numerous vent sites and endemic faunal assemblages have been found along mid-ocean …

Abstract The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR) represents one of the most slow-spreading
ridge systems on Earth. Previous attempts to locate hydrothermal vent fields and unravel the …

Sea-floor massive sulfide deposits represent a new type of base and precious metal
resources that may be exploited by future deep-sea mining operations. These deposits …

Abstract The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is an important section of the global mid-ocean
ridge system providing a corridor for dispersion of vent fauna between the Pacific and …

Our understanding of the benthic communities on arctic seamounts and descriptions of such
communities in habitat classification systems are limited. In recent years, Schulz Bank (73° …

Motivation Traits are increasingly being used to quantify global biodiversity patterns, with
trait databases growing in size and number, across diverse taxa. Despite growing interest in …

DNA sequencing technology has proven very valuable for analysing the microbiota of poorly
accessible ecosystems such as hydrothermal vents. Using a combination of amplicon and …

Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents are unique environments on E arth, as they host
chemosynthetic ecosystems fuelled by geochemical energy with chemolithoautotrophic …