Preliminary results of the macro benthos of the eastern mediterranean continental shelf, slope and abyssal plain  <B>Preliminary results of the macro benthos of the eastern mediterranean continental shelf, slope and abyssal plain</B><P>A. ELEFTHERIOU</B><I><P> Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, P.O. Box 2214, 71 003 Iraklion, Crete, Greece</I><B><P> INTRODUCTION</B><P> The Eastern Mediterranean marine ecosystem has been only scantily investigated which lead to a poor perception of the structure and function of this ecosystem. Those studies which do exist are both limited in scope and in space and indicate a limited growth and production characteristics of an oligotrophic environment. However, as such speculation requires verification, a multifaceted programme of research was initiated in order to identify the elements of the Eastern Mediterranean ecosystem and to provide reliable data on the qualitative and quantitative data of the benthic macrofauna of the soft sediments in the shelf area (200m), the adjacent continental slope and the abyssal plain reaching a maximum depth of 4800m. This would constitute the first phase of a more extensive programme which has as a goal to investigate the dynamic processes and the energy transfer from the surface to the ocean floor.<P> For the implementation of the first phase of this project, selected areas in the Cretan shelf and the deep basins in the Aegean and the Libyan Seas were investigated by means of grab (Smith-McIntyre, 0.1 m2), box corers (USNEL 0.25, 0.1 m2) and various trawls and dredges. At each station three to five samples were taken for the determination of the biotic indices (diversity, abundance, biomass) of the benthic macrofauna while additional samples for the determination of particle size, particulate organic carbon and chlorophyllous pigments content, temperature and the redox potential at different depths in the sediments were also taken at each station.<P> All samples were analysed as described in McIntyre & Eleftheriou (1968), and Holme & McIntyre (1984). For the purpose of this preliminary presentation only a brief account is presented here for a small number of stations from representative depths.<I><P> Atti del 9o Congresso A. I. O. L.</I><I><BR> S.Margherita Ligure, 20-23 Novembre 1990</I> <I>da pag. 9 a pag. 13</I><P>