The main aim of ChEss is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems. ChEss addresses the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, focusing on deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts.

Attribute table: location (Name); latitude (lat); longitude (lon) 

ChEssBase can be searched (taxonomy, site/location, habitat type, references, specimen) at www.noc.soton.ac.uk/chess/database/db_search.php. ChEssBase has been integrated with the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS; http://www.iobis.org).