An unresolved issue in ocean science is the discrepancy between the food requirements of the animals living on the deep sea floor and their food supply, as measured by sediment traps. A 10-year time-series study of the water column off Monterey Bay, California, revealed that the discarded mucus feeding structures of giant larvaceans carry a substantial portion of the upper ocean's productivity to the deep seabed. These abundant, rapidly sinking, carbon-rich vectors are not detected by conventional sampling methods and thus have not been included in calculations of vertical nutrient flux or in oceanic carbon budgets.

Novel instrumentation reveals that mucus-filter-feeding deep-sea larvaceans play a large role in oceanic carbon cycling.

Larvaceans can filter microplastics from the water and package them into their fecal pellets, transporting them into the deep sea.

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