Peracarid crustaceans, including isopods, are known to form a significant part of the macrobenthic community that is responsible for scavenging on large food falls onto the sea floor. In 2000, scientists of the "Diversity of the deep Atlantic benthos" (DIVA 1) expedition (cruise M48/1 of the German research vessel RV "Meteor III") discovered and collected three new species of the Asellota suborder of benthic isopods from the abyssal plains of the Angola Basin in the South Atlantic Ocean. In 2003, De Broyer et al. collected some 68,000 peracarid crustaceans from 62 species from baited traps deployed in the Weddell Sea, Scotia Sea, and off the South Shetland Islands. They found that about 98% of the specimens belonged to the amphipod superfamily "Lysianassoidea", and 2% to the isopod family Cirolanidae. Half of these species were collected from depths of greater than 1000 meters.