Additional file 1:

The study area. Location of the sampling areas in the central Mediterranean Sea, showing: (a), area (rectangle) including the deep hypersaline anoxic basin (x axis: Longitude; y axis: Latitude); and (b), detailed contour map of the L'Atalante basin.

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Additional file 2:

The effect of Rose Bengal on living and dead specimens. (a and b) Light microscopy (LM) images of living deep-sea nematodes collected from oxygenated sediments adjacent to the anoxic basin and stained with Rose Bengal; (c) LM image of dead deep-sea nematode stained with Rose Bengal; (d) LM image of living deep-sea copepods collected from oxygenated sediments adjacent to the anoxic basin and stained with Rose Bengal; (e) LM image of deep-sea copepod exuviae stained with Rose Bengal.

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Additional file 3:

Meiofaunal abundance and community structure in the L'Atalante basin and the adjacent oxygenated deep-sea sediments. Comparison of: (a), total abundance of benthic metazoans (expressed as individuals m^-2) in the anoxic sediments of the L'Atalante deep hypersaline anoxic basin (DHAB) and oxygenated deep-sea sediments surrounding the anoxic basin; and (b), contribution of the different taxa encountered in the anoxic sediments of the L'Atalante DHAB and oxygenated deep-sea sediments surrounding the anoxic basin (expressed as percentages).

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Additional file 4:

Elemental composition of loriciferans from the L'Atalante basin and oxygenated NE Atlantic deep-sea sediments. Reported are the relative contents (expressed as percentage) of Na, Mg, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br in the abdomen, posterior lorica and whole body of loriciferans.

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Additional file 5:

Differences in body composition of loriciferans from the L'Atalante basin and the NE Atlantic Ocean. Output of the principal component analysis carried out on the elemental composition data of different parts of the loriciferans bodies, collected in the L'Atalante basin and in the NE Atlantic Ocean. Vectors in the left part of the panel are proportional to the importance of the investigated chemical elements in distinguishing the Loricifera of the L'Atalante basin from those of the deep-Atlantic oxygenated sediments.

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Additional file 6:

Fourier-transformed infra-red spectroscopy of loriciferans from the L'Atalante basin and the NE Atlantic Ocean. Comparison of: (a) Fourier-transformed infra-red spectra of lorificerans collected from the L'Atalante basin (blue line) and from the oxygenated sediments of the NE Atlantic Ocean (red line); (b) spectra of chitosan (black line) and the lorica of the loriciferans collected in the L'Atalante basin (blue line); (c) spectra of chitin (green line) and the lorica of the loriciferans collected from the oxygenated sediments of the NE Atlantic Ocean (red line).

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