Deep-Sea Biology: A Natural History of Organisms at the Deep-Sea Floor

Although a number of excellent papers have appeared on the brains of teleosts in general, very few studies have been reported on the brains of deep sea fish. A paper by Trojan (1906) gives but a superficial survey, while that by Gierse (1904) deals primarily with the external form of the brain, the accessory organs of the brain, and the peripheral cranial nerves. The purpose of this investigation is to present a somewhat detailed description of the cell areas and fibre pathways, especially of the diencephalon and mesencephalon, the object being to determine what modifications have taken place in connection with their unusual environment. Very little is known about the natural history of these fish. In a personal communication concerning them, Professor Burr says, “The Diaphus dumerili were collected by the Bingham Oceanographic Expedition off the Cat Islands, the Bahamas, in 1927. Of these there are six specimens, Bingham Collection Nos. 9, 21, 36, 37, 38, and 39. The two Saurida suspicio , Bingham Collection Nos. 19 and 40, were collected also off Gat Island, the Bahamas. The Bathypterois articolar phenox is a very rare specimen; it was collected at N. 20°— 16' W. 71°— 18', at a depth of from 900—945 fathoms, also in 1927.”

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The neglected contributions of William Beebe to the natural history of the deep-sea

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsaa053 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 77 (5) ◽

pp. 1617-1628

Author(s):

John R Dolan

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

20Th Century ◽

Deep Water ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Water Sampling ◽

The Public ◽

Deep Waters ◽

Field Laboratory ◽

History Of

Abstract William Beebe (1877–1962) was a very popular 20th century naturalist and an early proponent of studying all organisms in a habitat. Beebe’s deep-sea work began with his Arcturus Oceanographic Expedition in 1925 with sampling closely modelled on the Michael Sars deep-sea expedition. Dissatisfied with ship-based sampling of stations for a few days at best, he established a field laboratory in Bermuda to do intensive deep-water sampling. From 1929 to 1934, plankton net tows were carried out at the same site, over several months each year, totalling over 1500 net tows in deep waters. Here, the sampling efforts and results are reviewed from both the Arcturus Expedition and the Bermuda station. Study of the deep-sea samples yielded 43 scientific articles, published from 1926 to 1952, on a large variety of taxa. Beebe is still a popular figure connected in the public view with deep-sea exploration from his famous Bathysphere dives at the Bermuda site. However, his name rarely, if ever, appears in academic reviews of deep-sea biology or deep-sea expeditions. This study is an attempt to draw attention to Beebe’s considerable scientific deep-sea work and provide some speculation as to why his contributions might be neglected.

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