This review is the first part of a two- or possibly three-part report on the literature of marine natural products that will update the author's review in 1977. Although there have been many excellent reviews of portions of the literature, the comprehensive reports provided by the Specialist Periodical Reports Aliphatic and Related Natural Product Chemistry and Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry, Section B, are incomplete in the area of marine natural products. After the coverage of research on marine natural products has been updated from 1977 to 1983, it is anticipated that future reports will cover all aspects of the literature of marine natural products in approximately yearly increments. The reports will be organized phylogenetically. This review includes only research that has been published in refereed journals; personal communications, conference proceedings or abstracts, and other notoriously optimistic sources have been deliberately omitted. The only exceptions are conference reports that are in the nature of reviews of an author's research and which offer an overview of a particular subject. With the exception of unusual sterols having interesting biological activities, marine sterols, carotenoids, and biopolymers have not been included in this report, since they are best reviewed by specialists.