Macrobenthos composition, abundance and biomass in the Arctic Ocean

Macrofauna has been sampled at 30 stations, at water depths of 1018–4478 m, along a transect extending between Northern Svalbard and the Makarov Basin, as a basis for understanding aspects of the benthic ecology of the Arctic Ocean. Species numbers, abundances and biomasses were extremely low, and generally varied between 0 to 11/0.02 m2, 0 to 850 individuals/m2, and 0 to 82.65 g/m**2, respectively. A total of 42 species was found. The Amphipod Jassa marmorata was the most common species. Both numbers and biomasses of suspension-feeding species increased towards the Lomonosov Ridge, probably due to lateral transport of organic material by deep currents along the ridge.