More than 2,000 scientists from 80 countries are taking part in the first global Census of Marine Life project scheduled to be completed in October of next year.

Using deep-towed cameras, sonar and other state-of-the-art technologies, the teams since 2000 have inventoried 17,650 species of marine species, ranging from crabs to shrimp to worms, living below 200 meters, the penetration limit for the sun's rays.

The majority of the deep sea creatures live on animal droppings from the sunlight layer above, while others have adapted to diets of bacteria that break down oil, sulfur and methane, the sunken bones of dead whales and other foods.

Edward Vanden Berghe, who manages the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), the Census' inventory of marine life observations, said that, unsurprisingly, the number of species falls off dramatically at deeper depths.

Nevertheless, he added, OBIS researchers have recorded 5,722 species living at a depth of more than 1,000 meters (yards).

The scientists -- 344 from 34 countries are directly involved in the deep-sea inventory project -- said their work has shed light on the abundance, diversity and distribution of animals in marine depths that were thought to be barren.

"Abundance is mostly a function of available food and decreases rapidly with depth," said Robert Carney of Louisiana State University, co-leader along with Myriam Sibuet of France of the Census project studying life along the world's continental margins.

"The continental margins are where we find the transition from abundant food made by photosynthesis to darkened poverty," Carney added.

He said it was difficult to understand why there was so much diversity since the silt covering the ocean bottom appears uniformly bereft of nutrients.

"The transitions display the intriguing adaptations and survival strategies of amazing species," said the scientist.

The most surprising creatures discovered include a "bizarre, elongated orange animal identified as Neocyema" living at 2,000 to 2,500 meters in depth. It was only the fifth specimen ever caught and the first found on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, researchers said.

At 1,000 to 3,000 meters researchers collected a very large specimen of a rare, primitive animal known as cirrate or finned octopod, commonly called "Dumbos" because they flap a pair of large ear-like fins to swim, akin to the cartoon flying elephant.

The jumbo Dumbo netted by Census explorers was estimated to be nearly two meters (6.5 feet) long and, at six kilograms (13 pounds), the largest of only a few specimens of the species ever obtained.

By the time the 10-year Census concludes in October, 2010, its five deep-sea projects will have collectively fielded more than 210 expeditions. The final Census report is to be released in London on October 4, 2010.

Census of Marine Life can be accessed at www.coml.org.

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