The Minerals Management Service has been one of the primary sources of oceanographic data since it first began supporting offshore sampling of the biota and environment. It has been a stipulation in all such studies that data be filed with the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In addition voucher specimens of all species collected are to be deposited with a repository museum, usually the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. Over the past 10 years there has be a greatly increased interest in the biological diversity of the seafloor. Making use of informatics, scientists are actively re-examining older studies in the search for ecological patterns. The information on benthic community distributions supported by museum specimens comprise one of the best data sources for the study of seafloor ecology available anywhere in the world.