system north of the island, known as the Puerto Rican Trench, one of the deepest zones
of the ocean.
Extensive deep sea samplings of the southwestern Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea
were performed during the 1956 - 60 by the exploratory fishing vessels R/V Oregon, R/V
Silver Bay, R/V Combat, R/V Pelican and the R/V Alexander Kovalevskii of the Soviet -
Cuban expedition (Bullis and Thompson, 1965; Manning, 1969; Rass, 1971). Fishes
were mostly collected using bottom and mid-water trawls. Likewise, the Florida Straits,
Gulf of Mexico, West Central and Southern Caribbean, Bahamas, and the Lesser
Antilles were intensively sampled during the 1960’s - 1970’s by the R/V Gerda, R/V
Pillsbury, R/V Columbus-Iselin, and R/V Oregon (Gore, 1974; Cairns, 1976; Cooper,
1977; Meyer et al., 1978). Interestingly, only a few stations in waters around the
Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands (north central Caribbean) were
sampled during these expeditions (e.g. R/V Oregon stations 644, 646, 6715; R/V
Pillsbury stations P-1386, P-1397, P-1401, P-1402). The dates and sampling station
coordinates from these cruises to the Western Atlantic region (that include the
Caribbean Sea) are available in several taxonomic review papers (Gore, 1974; Cairns,
1976; Cooper, 1977; Meyer et al., 1978). During the 1970’s through the 1980’s, the
Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, with funding from the U. S. National Marine
Fishery Service (NMFS/NOAA) explored the deep sea fisheries potential of the insular
slope of PR and the USVI. The fisheries effort included a series of at least 12 cruises of
the R/V Oregon and R/V Delaware, with particular attention to the north coast of PR and
the USVI.
Taxonomic records of deep water fishes collected in the earlier expeditions to the
Caribbean Sea were included in the monographs by Goode and Bean (1895), Jordan
and Evermann (1896 - 1900), Gray (1956), Springer and Bullis (1956) and Bullis and
Thompson (1965). Bigelow et al. (1948) produced the first taxonomic compilation of
fishes from the Western Atlantic, including collections of deep sea species from the
Caribbean Sea. A total of 160 fish species associated with deep habitats of the
Caribbean basin, including collections from the insular slope of Puerto Rico and other
islands were initially reported by Rass (1971) (Table 20). Nine groups of deep sea
fishes representing 31 families comprised 80 % of the total number of species collected
80
of the ocean.
Extensive deep sea samplings of the southwestern Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea
were performed during the 1956 - 60 by the exploratory fishing vessels R/V Oregon, R/V
Silver Bay, R/V Combat, R/V Pelican and the R/V Alexander Kovalevskii of the Soviet -
Cuban expedition (Bullis and Thompson, 1965; Manning, 1969; Rass, 1971). Fishes
were mostly collected using bottom and mid-water trawls. Likewise, the Florida Straits,
Gulf of Mexico, West Central and Southern Caribbean, Bahamas, and the Lesser
Antilles were intensively sampled during the 1960’s - 1970’s by the R/V Gerda, R/V
Pillsbury, R/V Columbus-Iselin, and R/V Oregon (Gore, 1974; Cairns, 1976; Cooper,
1977; Meyer et al., 1978). Interestingly, only a few stations in waters around the
Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands (north central Caribbean) were
sampled during these expeditions (e.g. R/V Oregon stations 644, 646, 6715; R/V
Pillsbury stations P-1386, P-1397, P-1401, P-1402). The dates and sampling station
coordinates from these cruises to the Western Atlantic region (that include the
Caribbean Sea) are available in several taxonomic review papers (Gore, 1974; Cairns,
1976; Cooper, 1977; Meyer et al., 1978). During the 1970’s through the 1980’s, the
Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, with funding from the U. S. National Marine
Fishery Service (NMFS/NOAA) explored the deep sea fisheries potential of the insular
slope of PR and the USVI. The fisheries effort included a series of at least 12 cruises of
the R/V Oregon and R/V Delaware, with particular attention to the north coast of PR and
the USVI.
Taxonomic records of deep water fishes collected in the earlier expeditions to the
Caribbean Sea were included in the monographs by Goode and Bean (1895), Jordan
and Evermann (1896 - 1900), Gray (1956), Springer and Bullis (1956) and Bullis and
Thompson (1965). Bigelow et al. (1948) produced the first taxonomic compilation of
fishes from the Western Atlantic, including collections of deep sea species from the
Caribbean Sea. A total of 160 fish species associated with deep habitats of the
Caribbean basin, including collections from the insular slope of Puerto Rico and other
islands were initially reported by Rass (1971) (Table 20). Nine groups of deep sea
fishes representing 31 families comprised 80 % of the total number of species collected
80