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The Abyssus Theory (sometimes referred to as the Azoic Theory) was a theory proposed by Edward Forbes in 1843, it stated that the abundance and variety of marine life decreased with increasing depth and, by extrapolation of his own measurements, Forbes calculated that marine life would cease to exist below 300 fathoms (around 550 metres).

The theory was based upon Forbes' findings aboard the HMS Beacon, a surveying ship to which he had been appointed naturalist by the ship's commander Captain Thomas Graves. With Forbes aboard, the HMS Beacon set sail around the Aegean Sea on 17th April 1841 from Malta. It was at this point that Forbes began to take dredging samples at various depths of the ocean, he observed that dredging samples from greater depths displayed a narrower diversity of creatures which were generally smaller in size.

Forbes reported his findings from the Aegean Sea in his 1843 report to the British Association entitled Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Aegean Sea. His findings were widely accepted by the scientific community and were bolstered by other scientific figures of the time. David Page (1814-1879), a respected geologist, confounded the theory by stating that ‘according to experiment, water at the depth of 1000 feet is compressed 1/340th of its own bulk; and at this rate of compression we know that at great depths animal and vegetable life as known to us cannot possibly exist – the extreme depressions of seas being thus, like the extreme elevations of the land, barren and lifeless solitudes’.

The theory stood, until 1850 when a scientist called Michael Sars, Professor of Zoology at Christiania (now Oslo) University, discovered life at a depth greater than 550 metres. In light of new evidence, the abyssus theory would come to be seen as a false hypothesis and give way to vastly increased efforts in deep-sea exploration and associated marine life.

Since being discredited, the abyssus theory has been referenced widely in popular culture and alluded to in documentaries that explore and showcase deep-sea marine life. 'The Abyssus Theory' is also the theme for the Keble College Ball 2017, set to take place in Keble College, Oxford on the 6th May 2017.