Diet secrets of the deep and fathomous

Recent research efforts by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have advanced our understanding of the feeding relationships within open ocean food webs by carefully detailing who eats whom. Gathering this type of information is a necessary step towards conservation of ocean species and ecosystems. Studying the diets of deep-sea animals is a formidable challenge. The scientists analyzed 27-years of video footage collected by deep-diving, remotely operated submersibles. Results reveal a food web that is far more complex than previously known, with a dynamic assemblage of jellies, squids, fishes, worms, and crustaceans feeding on one another in a variety of permutations, to sustain life in the deep sea.