This paper lists the species and the distribution of the bivalves collected from the deep-sea expeditions undertaken by American, British and French research vessels in the Atlantic over a period of twelve years. Samples were taken from eleven basins, and the analysis is resticted to samples taken with the epibenthic sled from depths ranging from 500 m to 5,000 m. A preliminary analysis is made of the changing distribution with depth and discussion as to why some genera and families are either restricted to or are more dominant in the deep sea as compared with those found at shelf-sea depths. It provides a baseline of information against which future deep-sea sampling can be compared.