80 



two groups. The first consists of a large number of local, shallow-water, 

 sand and rock bottom species, which have either been transported into 

 deep water through slumps or turbidity currents, or may actually live 

 there because of high bottom-water temperatures. Probably most of this 

 group was transported down the steep sides of the basins and channels 

 through slumping. Some of these species are listed below, while all can be 

 found in Table II of the appendix. 



Most of these species were found as shells at depths exceeding 300 meters, 

 far below their living occurrence, since many of them live only intertidally 

 to a few meters depth on the rocks which line these deep and very steep- 

 sided channels. 



The other group of dead shells is far more interesting and leads to 

 considerable speculation as to how they got there. This assemblage of 

 moUusks was so distinct that they formed one of the most clear-cut 

 associations in the computor matrix. Of the nine species showing this 

 strong association, only one was collected alive (once) in the northern 

 basins, although three more were also taken alive on the upper slope in 

 the Central Gulf. The nine species showing strong affinities for each 

 other are listed here. 



