Abyssal Community Structure of the Benthic Infauna of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific: DOMES Sites A, B, and C

Eighty 0.25m2 box cores were collected and analyzed to determine the faunal composition, species diversity and sample similarity of the benthic communities of three sites in the eastern Equatorial Pacific. (The results are part of a baseline survey of the fauna of the manganese nodule province of the Pacific.) The bottom topography of this region is characterized by abyssal hills, with a relief of 50 to 300 meters, at a depth of 4350 to 5150 meters.