oceans and analyzed these rates as a function of body mass [wet mass (W'M). dry mas( [DM). carbon (C) or nitrogen (N), habitat temperature and habitat depth using multiple regression Stepwise-regression analyses revealed that body mass was the most important parameter, followed by habitat temperature and habitat depth, and these variables explained 89.7-93.8% and 94.7-95.8%,respectively, of the variance in the respiration data of fishes and cephalopods. The addition of a taxon category (order or family) as a fourth variable improved these correlations only slightly (95.6-95.7% and 95.7-96.2%, respectively). The resultant regression equation showed higher respiration rates in cephalopods than fishes relative to the DM.