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What happens to samples once they're collected?

Once we've collected the samples, we analyse them back in the laboratory at NOC. This analysis lets us determine all sorts of biodiversity information for a sample, including:

  • Identification (classifying and naming) of the different species 
  • The number of different species 
  • The number of specimens of each species 
  • Body sizes (like length and weight)

There are many different ways to study the samples we collect, all depending on the aim of the study and the type of sample. For example, we usually study seafloor invertebrates according to their size: megafauna, macrofauna, and meiofauna. Each of these groups is targeted, sampled, and studied in different ways:

  • Epifauna, collected from hard substrata 
  • Larger megafaunal animals collected from trawls 
  • Scavengers collected from baited traps 
  • Smaller infaunal animals collected from sediment cores

Sample Processing, Analysis, and Data Management

When we get sediment samples from a corer, we first gently sieve the sample to the required size. For macrofauna, this is usually on a 300-micrometre sieve. The sample that's left is then taken to the lab, and all the animal specimens are picked out from the remaining sediment under a stereomicroscope. How long this takes really depends on the size of the sample and where it was collected from.

Once the sample has been picked, we separate the specimens and identify them to the most detailed level needed for the study. In some cases, this might just be a major taxonomic group (like phylum or class). In most studies, however, we identify them to the species level or an "operational taxonomic unit." In the deep sea, this involves specialist taxonomic expertise, as many of the species will be new to science.

Samples that have been sorted and identified are labelled, documented in datasets and databases, and then preserved and curated in the Discovery Collections for future study.

The datasets we produce from studying the fauna at a particular place and time are used in all sorts of ways and have contributed to major ecological studies. Good examples include the analyses of megafauna and scavenger communities at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory, and our work studying the fauna in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific.

Publications

NOC scientists have published significant research from faunal studies across several key areas:

Are abyssal scavenging amphipod assemblages linked to climate cycles?

Authors

Horton, Tammy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4250-1068; Thurston, Michael H.; Vlierboom, Rianna; Gutteridge, Zoe; Pebody, Corinne A.; Gates, Andrew R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2798-5044; Bett, Brian J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4977-9361. 2020 Are abyssal scavenging amphipod assemblages linked to climate cycles? Progress in Oceanography, 184. 102318, pp. 10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102318

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Article

Long-term change in the abyssal NE Atlantic: The ‘Amperima Event’ revisited

Authors

Billett, D.S.M.; Bett, B.J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4977-9361; Reid, W.D.K.; Boorman, B.; Priede, I.G.. 2010 Long-term change in the abyssal NE Atlantic: The ‘Amperima Event’ revisited [in special issue: Water Column and Seabed Studies at the PAP Sustained Observatory in the Northeast Atlantic] Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 57 (15). 1406-1417. 10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.02.001

Publication year

2010

Publication type

Article

How many metazoan species live in the world’s largest mineral exploration region?

Authors

Rabone, Muriel; Wiethase, Joris H.; Simon-Lledó, Erik ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9667-2917; Emery, Aidan M.; Jones, Daniel O.B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5218-1649; Dahlgren, Thomas G.; Bribiesca-Contreras, Guadalupe; Wiklund, Helena; Horton, Tammy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4250-1068; Glover, Adrian G.. 2023 How many metazoan species live in the world’s largest mineral exploration region? Current Biology, 33 (12). 2383-2396.e5. 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.052

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Carbonate compensation depth drives abyssal biogeography in the northeast Pacific

Authors

Simon-Lledó, Erik ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9667-2917; Amon, Diva J.; Bribiesca‐Contreras, Guadalupe; Cuvelier, Daphne; Durden, Jennifer M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6529-9109; Ramalho, Sofia P.; Uhlenkott, Katja; Arbizu, Pedro Martinez; Benoist, Noëlie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1978-3538; Copley, Jonathan; Dahlgren, Thomas G.; Glover, Adrian G.; Fleming, Bethany; Horton, Tammy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4250-1068; Ju, Se-Jong; Mejía-Saenz, Alejandra; McQuaid, Kirsty; Pape, Ellen; Park, Chailinn; Smith, Craig R.; Jones, Daniel O. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5218-1649. 2023 Carbonate compensation depth drives abyssal biogeography in the northeast Pacific. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 10.1038/s41559-023-02122-9

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Impacts of an industrial deep-sea mining trial on macrofaunal biodiversity

Authors

Stewart, Eva C. D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8383-5705; Wiklund, Helena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8252-3504; Neal, Lenka; Bribiesca-Contreras, Guadalupe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8163-8724; Drennan, Regan; Boolukos, Corie M. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3020-4664; King, Lucas D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3186-9410; Rabone, Muriel; Valls Domedel, Georgina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8932-6641; Serpell-Stevens, Amanda; Arias, Maria B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5538-5177; Dahlgren, Thomas G.; Horton, Tammy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4250-1068; Glover, Adrian G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9489-074X. 2025 Impacts of an industrial deep-sea mining trial on macrofaunal biodiversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 10.1038/s41559-025-02911-4

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Recovery and restoration potential of cold‐water corals: experience from a deep‐sea marine protected area

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Learn More

Learn more about the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory, one of NOC's major long-term ecological research sites.