Joseph J. Torres is Emeritus Professor of Marine Science, College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL, USA. He is an internationally-renowned marine biologist with research interests in the physiological ecology of the deep- and open-oceanic realms. Thomas G. Bailey is retired director of NOAA’s Caribbean Marine Research Center following a long career in deep-ocean science at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution as head of the Department of Zooplankton Ecology. He is a highly respected in-situ marine scientist known for innovative techniques in capturing and experimenting with delicate sea creatures at great depth.