Hawaiian Submarine Canyons Are Hotspots Of Biodiversity And Biomass For Seafloor Animal Communities

Large gorgonian observed at 650 m off the North Coast of Moloka i, dubbed "Cousin It." (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Hawaii at Manoa)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2010) — Underwater canyons have long been considered important habitats for marine life, but until recently, only canyons on continental margins had been intensively studied. Researchers from Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) and the Universtiy of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) have now conducted the first extensive study of canyons in the oceanic Hawaiian Archipelago and found that these submarine canyons support especially abundant and unique communities of megafauna (large animals such as fish, shrimp, crabs, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins) including 41 species not observed in other habitats in the Hawaiian Islands.

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