Observations of the Ecology and Behavior of Mesopelagic Fishes From the Submersible Johnson-Sea-Link

海洋中被称为中远洋的区域，位于-200米至-1000米的深度之间。它几乎覆盖了世界上所有的海洋，除了大陆架和海洋岛屿周围的小区域；因此，它代表了世界上最大的环境类型之一。中深海的特点是寒冷、黑暗的海水，生活着不同寻常的生命形式，但总的来说，我们对这一广阔地区的了解很少。我们知道一些奇怪的鱼类和普遍存在的发光生物，但对生活在这些深处的生物的分布、数量和行为知之甚少。现在，随着一些极其复杂的潜水器的出现，使得开放水域的观测非常成功，我们对这片海洋区域的了解开始大大扩展。哈比森博士和他的同事们对我们研究中上层世界动物的生态学和行为的初步进展做出了巨大贡献。他们建议对中远洋鱼类对环境刺激（视觉和听觉）的反应进行一些初步调查；他们还将对传统和潜水取样技术进行比较，并在中水域使用传统和潜水取样技术。这些研究将从这个鲜为人知的地区提供令人兴奋的新发现，并将提供一些关于我们过去在这种环境下取样工作的有效性的重要信息。生物海洋学项目建议一年的奖金为54,736美元。

The region of the ocean called the mesopelagic, of midwaters, lies in the depths between -200 and -1000 meters. It covers virtually the entire extent of the world's ocean excepting the continental shelves and small areas around ocean islands; therefore it represents one of the world's largest types of environments. The mesopelagic is characterized by cold, dark waters with ususual life forms but, in general, our knowledge of this huge region is minimal, We know of the accounts of strange fishes and the prevalence of bioluminescent organisms, but little of the distribution, abundance, and behavior of the living things that occupy these depths. Now, with the advent of some extremely sophisticated submersibles that make open water observations very sucessful, our understanding of this ocean region is starting to expand greatly. Dr. Harbison and colleagues have contributed greatly to our initial progress studying the ecology and behavior of animals in the mesopelagic world. They have proposed to conduct some preliminary investigations into the responses of mesopelagic fishes to environmental stimuli (visual and acoustic); they will also make comparisons of traditional vs. submersible sampling techniques using comparisons of traditional vs. submersible sampling techniques used in the midwaters. These studies will provide exciting new findings from this poorly known region and will yield some important information about how effective our past sampling efforts have been in this environment. The Biological Oceanography Program recommends a one-year award at $54,736.