The deep ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth and also the least explored. Only 5% of the deep sea has been explored with remote instruments and less than 0.01% of the deep sea-floor has been sampled and studied (Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2010a). A series of characteristics as low temperatures, relatively constant salinity, light decreasing and pressure increasing with depth and oxygen concentration generally close to saturation make this environment distinct and unique. [...]

This thesis was conducted at the Institute of Marine Science of Barcelona (ICM-CSIC) in the framework of the projects PROMETEO and DOSMARES funded by the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry (REF: CTM2007-66316C02/MAR and CTM2010-21810-C03-03/MAR, respectively), BIOFUN (CTM2007-28739-E) funded by the European Science Foundation and CICYT and PROMARES-OASIS DEL MAR (Obra Social "La Caixa")

Memoria de tesis doctoral presentada por Ariadna Mecho Lausac para optar al grado de Doctora en Ciencias del Mar por la Universitat de Barcelona (UB), realizada bajo la dirección del Dr. Joan Baptista Company Claret, la Dra. Eva Zoe Ramírez Llodra y el Dr. Jacopo Aguzzi del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 225 pages

Peer reviewed