Benthic macrofauna and foraminifera (>500 µm) diversity, abundance and biomass on the Northeast Greenland (NEG) shelf sediments during POLARSTERN cruise PS109

The samples have been collected with R/V Polarstern during PS109 between September and October 2017. Sediment was collected with a camera-equipped MUC (TV-MUC; diameter of 93mm; circle area 0.007 m2) or with a benthic lander (dimensions 20 cmx20 cm; square area 0.04 m²), sliced into 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm layers and subsequently sieved over a 500 µm mesh. Afterwards, the samples were fixed with 4 % seawater-buffered formaldehyde in Kautex bottles at room temperature. In the lab, samples were stained with Rose Bengal and macrofauna and foraminifera individuals were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, and the blotted wet formalin weight of macrofauna individuals was measured with a precision balance (DeltaRange XP56 or AX205; Mettler Toledo, Ohio, USA).