(Table 1) Number of invertebrate species per bottom trawl haul in the Kapp Norvegia to Halley Bay area on cruise EASIZ I (ANT-XIII/3) and in the Kapp Norvegia - Austasen area on cruise EASIZ III (ANT-XVII/3)

Ecological work carried out on the Antarctic and Magellan shelves since the first IBMANT conference held at the UMAG, Punta Arenas in 1997 is summarized to identify areas where progress has been made and others, where impor- tant gaps have remained in understanding past and present interaction between the Antarctic and the southern tip of South America. This information is complementary to a review on shallow-water work along the Scotia Arc (Barnes, 2005) and recent work done in the deep sea (Brandt and Hilbig, 2004). While principally referring to shipboard work in deeper water, above all during the recent international EASIZ and LAMPOS campaigns, relevant work from shore stations is also included. Six years after the first IBMANT symposium, significant progress has been made along the latitudinal gradient from the Magellan region to the high Antarctic in the fields of biodiversity, biogeography and community structure, life strategies and adaptations, the role of disturbance and its significance for biodiversity, and trophic coupling of the benthic realm with the water column and sea ice. A better understanding has developed of the role of evolutionary and ecological factors in shaping past and present-day environmental conditions, species composition and distribution, and ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, the science community engaged in unravelling Antarctic-Magellan interactions has advanced in methodological aspects such as new analytical approaches for comparing biodiversity derived from visual methods, growth and age determination, trophic modelling using stable isotope ratios, and molecular approaches for taxonomic and phylogenetic purposes. At the same time, much effort has been invested to complement the species inventory of the two adjacent regions. However, much work remains to be done to fill the numerous gaps. Some perspectives are outlined in this review, and sug- gestions are made where particular emphasis should be placed in future work, much of which will be developed in the frame of SCAR's EBA (Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic) programme.

Spatially explicit estimates of length and biomass of Micromesistius poutassou (Blue Whiting) from acoustic and trawl surveys in the North-East Atlantic in May 2012

Acoustic estimates of herring and blue whiting abundance were obtained during the surveys using the Simrad ER60 scientific echosounder. The allocation of NASC-values to herring, blue whiting and other acoustic targets were based on the composition of the trawl catches and the appearance of echo recordings. To estimate the abundance, the allocated NASC -values were averaged for ICES-squares (0.5° latitude by 1° longitude). For each statistical square, the unit area density of fish (rA) in number per square nautical mile (N*nm-2) was calculated using standard equations (Foote et al., 1987; Toresen et al., 1998). To estimate the total abundance of fish, the unit area abundance for each statistical square was multiplied by the number of square nautical miles in each statistical square and then summed for all the statistical squares within defined subareas and over the total area. Biomass estimation was calculated by multiplying abundance in numbers by the average weight of the fish in each statistical square then summing all squares within defined subareas and over the total area. The Norwegian BEAM soft-ware (Totland and Godø 2001) was used to make estimates of total biomass.

Survey bottom trawl data of Micromesistius poutassou (blue whiting) in Bay of Biscay and Celtic Sea from the EVHOE time series (1997-2011)

Data were collected during various groundfish surveys carried out by IFREMER from October to December between 1997 and 2011, on the eastern continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay and in the Celtic Sea (EVHOE series). The sampling design was stratified according to latitude and depth. A 36/47 GOV trawl was used with a 20 mm mesh codend liner. Haul duration was 30 minutes at a towing speed of 4 knots. Fishing was restricted to daylight hours. Catch weights and catch numbers were recorded for all species and body size measured. The weights and numbers per haul were transformed into abundances per km**2 by considering the swept area of a standard haul (0.069 km**2).

(Tables 1, 3) Details of Agassiz trawl stations and numbers of specimens per macro- and megazoobenthic taxon collected during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXII/3 (ANDEEP III)

The assemblages inhabiting the continental shelf around Antarctica are known to be very patchy, in large part due to deep iceberg impacts. The present study shows that richness and abundance of much deeper benthos, at slope and abyssal depths, also vary greatly in the Southern and South Atlantic oceans. On the ANDEEP III expedition, we deployed 16 Agassiz trawls to sample the zoobenthos at depths from 1055 to 4930 m across the northern Weddell Sea and two South Atlantic basins. A total of 5933 specimens, belonging to 44 higher taxonomic groups, were collected. Overall the most frequent taxa were Ophiuroidea, Bivalvia, Polychaeta and Asteroidea, and the most abundant taxa were Malacostraca, Polychaeta and Bivalvia. Species richness per station varied from 6 to 148. The taxonomic composition of assemblages, based on relative taxon richness, varied considerably between sites but showed no relation to depth. The former three most abundant taxa accounted for 10-30% each of all taxa present. Standardised abundances based on trawl catches varied between 1 and 252 individuals per 1000 m2. Abundance significantly decreased with increasing depth, and assemblages showed high patchiness in their distribution. Cluster analysis based on relative abundance showed changes of community structure that were not linked to depth, area, sediment grain size or temperature. Generally abundances of zoobenthos in the abyssal Weddell Sea are lower than shelf abundances by several orders of magnitude.