The abyssal region is the deep sea.
This region is described as the single largest environment on Earth and
it covers over 85 percent of all ocean basins.
This area is a vast smooth plain covered in thick sediments. Most of these sediments are moved by
turbidity currents that sometimes rush down submarine canyons. These currents can move as fast as 50 miles
per hour and thy sometimes agitate sediments near canyons. When these sediments are agitated, they slide
down to the abyssal plain, gaining more momentum and sediments while carving
out a river-like bed as they go. When it
begins to slow down the heavier particles settle out first, then the lighter
ones. Some sediment is marked with
trails of an organism such as a brittle star.
Similarly, acorn worms leave a spiral pattern on the sea floor. The abyssal region has some other types of
life such as squid, rabbit fish, deepwater cod, anglerfish, rays, eels, sea
urchins, heart urchins, sand dollars, and holothurians. Most of the life lives on the bottom
including burrowing creatures, those permanently attached to the floor, and the
crawling and weak swimmers, all in which compete for organic matter. The two most common open-water fish are the
lantern fish (Myctophidae) and the hatchet fish (Sternoptychide). Both only grow to about two inches in length
they posses bioluminescent photophores, or the ability to produce light, from
their side and belly area. Another fish
is the tripod fish. This fish supports
itself using its two long ventral fins and its extended tail lobe. To catch its food it sits towards the current
with its ray fins directly in front, possibly to detect its next victim. In the Abyssal Region there are some squid,
but most life is small, maybe because there isn’t much food.