Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Ctenophore observations were recorded during ROV Doc Ricketts during dives D856 to D920 (2016), D959 to D965 (2017) and 1240 to 1245 (2019 and 2020). Ctenophores collected with the ROV Ventana were from dives 4213 to 4275 (2019 and 2020) in Monterey Bay offshore of California from 200 to 4000 meters.

The data include the species or lowest classification possible along with the date, time, depth, and temperature where the organism was observed.  The timestamp  (TapeTimeCode)  on the recorded tape is also provided when available. The data include measurements taken by the ROV on the way down and up.

BCO-DMO Data Manager Processing Notes:

Data version 2016-12-22
* added a conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
* modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
* converted date and time to ISO timestamp
* rounded temperature and depth to two decimal places and lat/lon to five.

Data version 2017-10-17 replaces version 2016-12-22
* more data added from newer dives
* data parameter names changed, parameter section updated
* "D" added before dive number to be consistent with CTD dataset.
* observer parameter description removed as it was not included in this version of files.

Data version 2: 2020-12-14 replaces version 1:2017-10-17
* added data from 2019 and 2020 dives
* added D or V to DiveNumber for "Doc Ricketts" and "Ventana", respectively, to agree with CTD dataset.

Data version 3: 2021-01-27 replaces version 2: 2020-12-14
* added data from 2020 and 2021 dives
* added D or V to DiveNumber for "Doc Ricketts" and "Ventana", respectively, to agree with CTD dataset.
* Preserved format in column "DateTime24" which has a variable format ( yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:SS or HH:MM). Filled in existing column from v1 and v2 "ISO_DateTime_UTC" with a consistent ISO 8601 format with time zone (yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MMZ). 
* Lat lon rounded to five decimal places as was done in version 1. 
* Made a unique taxa list using the "ConceptName" data column and matched names using the World Register of Marine Species taxa match tool.  This will be attached as a supplemental file to this dataset and will include the matched taxonomic identifiers aphiaID, and LSID.

The deep sea is more than 90 percent of the inhabitable space on Earth, yet life there is largely a mystery to science. Ctenophores, also known as comb jellies, are marine predators found in all oceans, inhabiting both deep and shallow seas. Although fragile and difficult to study, they are biologically important, in part because they appear to have been the first group of animals to split off from all other organisms during evolution, even before sponges and jellyfish. Over evolutionary time, many marine organisms have transitioned their home ranges to and from the deep sea despite the tremendous differences between these two habitats, including light, temperature, and hydrostatic pressure. Such habitat shifts required dramatic genetic and physiological changes to these animal lineages over time. The relationships between comb jelly species indicate that species from a variety of different families have evolved to live and thrive in the deep sea. This project will compare closely related deep and shallow species at biochemical, physiological and genetic levels to understand how these transitions came about. It will answer questions about the fundamental mechanisms of animal evolution and develop publicly available tools for analyzing genomic data sets. It will result in the training of cutting-edge techniques for two PhD students, a postdoc, two masters students, and numerous undergraduates. Public outreach involving biodiversity in the deep sea and gelatinous animals will help educate and inspire appreciation of marine life.

The main objective of this project is to understand evolution and diversification using cutting edge molecular analyses to investigate the deep-sea habitat as the generating force of novel biological adaptations. Ctenophore specimens will be collected using blue-water SCUBA in surface waters and remotely operated submarines in the deep sea to generate complementary physiological and genomic data across the full phylogenetic and functional diversity of ctenophores. With samples taken across a range of habitats from shallow tropical waters to temperate bathypelagic zone, the team will measure physiological capabilities and sequence transcriptomes and genomes. This project will develop novel algorithms to identify genes involved in depth adaptation and examine the genetic events that underlie physiological tolerances and adaptations to high hydrostatic pressures in the deep sea. To confirm the theory-based predictions of how gene sequence affects the properties of enzymes, proteins will be expressed and characterized in the lab. Collaborations between the students, postdocs and PIs involved in this project will substantially enhance an interdisciplinary workforce trained in both classical and cutting edge skills needed for contemporary biodiversity investigations.