Creatures found at a depth between 2000m to 4000m (2km to 4km) are at bathypelagic zone or also known as the midnight zone. And without any appreciable sunlight, the bathypelagic zone lacks photosynthetic plants and primary productivity.
Species present in this zone are limited to:
- Detrivores who feed on the downward drizzle of moulted exoskeletons, mucus sheets, fec@l pellets, organism corpses and other organic debris falling from the mesopelagic zone
- Resident carnivores or
- other resident scavengers
In this zone, food is a scarce resource. Much of what is available as food falls from the rich sunlit water above. Occasionally a large animal that dies, such as a whale or large fish, sinks into this region. These rare feasts for scavenging fish are quickly consumed.
Some fish like the primitive jawless fish known as hagfish and lampreys gather round a corpse with surprising speed and eat it by burrowing into the animal and eating it from the inside out.
Some of the organisms are predator specialists that lie in waiting and lure their prey. This feeding strategy is advantageous in an environment where movement involves costly energy expenditure. Correspondingly, many of the organisms are listless and lack any real muscle development due to their inactive life style.
Adaptation is the name of the game when you live thousands of feet below the water's surface. See how these deep-sea denizens make the most of their deep, dark home at Nationalgeographic.com.
