Ocean Sci., 15, 1327–1340, 2019 https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-1327-2019 © Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. The Pelagic In situ Observation System (PELAGIOS) to reveal biodiversity, behavior, and ecology of elusive oceanic fauna Henk-Jan Hoving1, Svenja Christiansen2, Eduard Fabrizius1, Helena Hauss1, Rainer Kiko1, Peter Linke1, Philipp Neitzel1, Uwe Piatkowski1, and Arne Körtzinger1,3 1GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany 2University of Oslo, Blindernveien 31, 0371 Oslo, Norway 3Christian Albrecht University Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, 24118 Kiel, Germany Correspondence: Henk-Jan Hoving (
[email protected]) Received: 16 November 2018 – Discussion started: 10 December 2018 Revised: 11 June 2019 – Accepted: 17 June 2019 – Published: 7 October 2019 Abstract. There is a need for cost-efficient tools to explore 1 Introduction deep-ocean ecosystems to collect baseline biological obser- vations on pelagic fauna (zooplankton and nekton) and es- The open-ocean pelagic zones include the largest, yet least tablish the vertical ecological zonation in the deep sea. The explored habitats on the planet (Robison, 2004; Webb et Pelagic In situ Observation System (PELAGIOS) is a 3000 m al., 2010; Ramirez-Llodra et al., 2010). Since the first rated slowly (0.5 m s−1) towed camera system with LED il- oceanographic expeditions, oceanic communities of macro- lumination, an integrated oceanographic sensor set (CTD- zooplankton and micronekton have been sampled using nets O2) and telemetry allowing for online data acquisition and (Wiebe and Benfield, 2003). Such sampling has revealed a video inspection (low definition).