Zooplankton at deep Red Sea brine pools

Abstract

The deep-sea anoxic brines of the Red Sea comprise unique, complex and extreme habitats. These environments are too harsh for metazoans, while the brine-seawater interface harbors dense microbial populations. We investigated the adjacent pelagic fauna at two brine pools using net tows, video records from a remotely operated vehicle and submerged echosounders. Waters just above the brine pool of Atlantis II Deep (2000 m depth) appeared depleted of macrofauna. In contrast, the fauna appeared to be enriched at the Kebrit Deep brine-seawater interface (1466 m).