Maarten Raes

TL;DR: The structural attributes and biotic effects of the habitats that corals, sea pens, sponges and xenophyophores offer other organisms and the biotic structures they create to habitat heterogeneity and diversity on the deep continental margins are highlighted.

TL;DR: It is shown that macrohabitat heterogeneity contributes significantly to total deep-sea nematode diversity on a global scale, and that many areas and habitats remain highly under-sampled, affecting the ability to understand fully the contribution of habitat heterogeneity versus regional differences to global nematodes diversity.

TL;DR: The marine ecosystem on the eastern shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula was surveyed 5 and 12 years after the climate-induced collapse of the Larsen A and B ice shelves, and an impoverished benthic fauna was discovered, that included deep-sea species presumed to be remnants from ice-covered conditions as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: The nematofauna associated with a cold-water coral degradation zone in the Porcupine Seabight (NE Atlantic) was investigated, and the presence of a microbial biofilm on the coral fragments is proposed as an explanation for the significant preference of epistratum feeders for this microhabitat.

TL;DR: Differences between nematodes assemblages in the coralline sediment and on coral fragments were attributed to the exposed nature of the latter habitat, its large surface area and its microbial or algal cover, and differences in available food sources were reflected in nematode trophic composition.