Deep-Sea Animal Identification Guide
Welcome to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument deep-sea animal identification Guide, a collection of in situ images collected by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL), NOAA's department of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and Ocean Exploration Trust (OET). The guide is intended to share animal identifications from deep-sea areas within the monument at depths between 150-5000m (500-16400ft). Animal identifications have been updated on a periodic basis as taxonomic revisions have been made. Taxonomic revisions are particularly common for deep-water animals, which are poorly known; therefore, we expect routine updates to continue to occur. In some instances, specimens were collected that aided in identification but, in most cases, animals are identified from the imagery alone.
The guide is organized by taxonomic groups and identifications were made with assistance from taxonomic experts who specialize in deep-water animals. Each image includes an image header that consists of a colored square to indicate the depth at which the image was taken (see depth key below), a code for the ocean and region (All animals in this guide have the region code "P-NHI" to indicate the Northwest Hawaiian Island chain and seamounts. These images can be compared with imagery appearing in other guides created by DARC), animal's species/genus name, and a series of letters and numbers which correspond to the dive where the image was captured. Images of collected specimens with a known repository number are indicated with the code "spec" in the image header. Additional information about the animal is located below the image.
Click here to download the Guide (7.3GB)
Each image is tagged with a color square that provides a general indication of the depth the image was taken. Click on image to open in new window for reference.
