The first serial publication devoted to marine science appears to be a French title, published from 1867 to 1887, “Les Fonds de la Mer” (The Bottom of the Sea). It was an unusual publication, published irregularly in issues of 16 pages with plates. Very few copies exist in libraries and apparently no library holds an original complete set of the text and plates. The serial contains an early example of citizen science, reporting on the composition of sediment samples collected from around the globe by ship captains and other individuals. It provides intriguing insights into the development of marine science discipline as well as competitive aspirations of different nations in the second half of the 19th century. Many new species, largely molluscs and crustaceans, were described. Most of the species described as new were later found to be synonyms of previously described species, but today 146 of the species descriptions are recognized as valid original descriptions. Combining reports on the chemical and physical composition of sediments and benthic fauna, the first marine serial can be characterized as multidisciplinary. Les Fonds de la Mer is still being cited today.