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Synopsis The distribution and behaviour of fauna living in the area of highly structured continental slopes deserve special ecological interest as the physical conditions arising from interactions between topography and hydrology should impose considerable influences OD the relationships among animals living close to the bottom and those in the adjacent pelagic region. Deep-sea canyons may stimulate bentho-pelagic interactions in particular through upwelling events, that transport larvae of bottom-dwelling fauna into the open water or enhance the horizontal transport and trapping of vertically migrating organisms on to the shelf. Further, downslope currents associated with the tidal cycle may transport nutrient, to deeper water, -, where they may be used by benthic, benthopelagic and "pseudoceanic" fauna in the areas of submarine canyons. The ecological significance of bentho-pelagic interactions in the areas of steep, structured slopes with increased biomass, productivity and variation in local diversity has been emphasized in recent studies in the Canary Islands Eastern Central Atlantic.