Description: The dataset comprises a total of 9,540 records of semi-quantitative data for 53 benthic invertebrate taxa and fish from 180 trawl samples (Agassiz trawl, bottom trawl, Rauschert dredge, benthopelagic trawl). The semi-quantitative data represent four categories regarding the frequency of occurrence of the benthic taxa (i.e. 0 = absent, 1 = rare, 2 = common and 3 = very common). The dataset was collected on the shelf and slope of the eastern Weddell Sea and Lazarev Sea, near Bouvet Island and the region at the north western tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (depth range: 64 - 2334 m) between 1989 and 2004 onboard "Polarstern". Cruises ANT VII/4 (1989), ANT IX/3 (1990/91), ANT XIII/3 (1996), ANT XV/3 (1998) and ANT XXI/2 (2003/2004) contributed to the data collection.

Description: The dataset comprises a total of 11,020 records of presence and absence for 58 benthic invertebrate taxa and fish from 190 trawl samples (Agassiz trawl, bottom trawl, Rauschert dredge, benthopelagic trawl). The dataset was collected on the shelf and slope of the eastern Weddell Sea and Lazarev Sea, near Bouvet Island and the region at the north western tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (depth range: 64 - 2315 m) between 1989 and 2004 onboard "Polarstern". Cruises ANT VII/4 (1989), ANT IX/3 (1990/91), ANT XIII/3 (1996), ANT XV/3 (1998), ANT XVII/3 (2000) and ANT XXI/2 (2003/2004) contributed to the data collection.

Description: The dataset comprises a total of 7,134 records of presence and absence for 87 sea star taxa (84 % on species level, 16 % others) from 72 trawl samples (Agassiz trawl, bottom trawl, Rauschert dredge, epibenthic sledge) and 10 others (multi-box corer, giant box corer, amphipod trap, fish trap, CTD logger). The dataset was collected in the Antarctic Weddell Sea and western Antarctic Peninsula (depth range: 94 - 1353 m) during “Polarstern” cruises ANT I/2 (1983), ANT II/4 (1983/84), ANT V/3 (1987), ANT VI/3 (1987/88), ANT XV/3 (1998) and ANT XVII/3 (2000).

Description: The data set comprises a total of 3,240 records of abundance of 24 polychaete taxa of the families Aphroditides and Polynoids (88 % of the taxa were identified at species or subspecies level). The data were collected in the Southern Ocean, i.e. the Weddell Sea, the Lazarev Sea and the plateau region of South Orkney (depth range: 126 - 2025 m). A total of 135 trawls (Agassiz trawl, bottom trawl, dredge, benthopelagic trawl) were used during RV "Polarstern" cruises ANT I/2 (1983), ANT II/4 (1983/84), ANT V/3 and 4 (1986/87), ANT VII/4 (1989), ANT IX/3 (1990/91) and ANT X/3 (1992).

Description: The PAN-Arctic data collection of benthic BIOtas (PANABIO) contains records of benthic fauna identified at genus-level or species-level in field samples taken at point-referenced locations (stations) by means of grabs, towed gear, or seabed imaging. The data are from all major marine Arctic areas, i.e., central Arctic Ocean, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Laptev Sea, Kara Sea, Barents Sea (incl. White Sea), Svalbard waters, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, Canadian Archipelago, Beaufort Sea, and Bering Sea, as well as some adjacent sub-Arctic regions (Sea of Japan, Gulf of Okhotsk). Currently (14 December 2023), the collection includes 27 datasets with a total of 126,388 records (ranging from presence to counts, abundances or biomass) of 2,978 taxa, identified in 11,555 samples taken at 10,596 stations during 1,095 cruises between 1800 and 2014. It is also available in a PostgreSQL-based data warehouse that can be accessed and queried through an open-access frontend web service at https://critterbase.awi.de/panabio.

Description: Here we provide four ArcGIS map packages with georeferenced files on the spatial distribution of demersal and pelagic fishes in the wider Weddell Sea (Antarctica), which were created in the context of the development of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea. Antarctic toothfish: The map of Dissostichus mawsoni occurrence probability is based on catch per unit effort (CPUE) data from the database of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) (data request: 03-08-2016) and on bathymetric data from the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO). We fitted a four-parameter Weibull model to the simulated CPUE data per depth interval by means of the R package 'fitdistrplus'. The highest D. mawsoni occurrence probability was shown at depths between 1500 and 2000 m and only approximately 20 % of the Antarctic toothfish population occurred deeper than 2000 m. Antarctic silverfish: The map of interpolated abundances of Pleuragramma antarctica was based on pelagic trawl survey data, which were collected during "Polarstern" cruises ANT-I/2, ANT-III/3 and in the context of the Lazarev Sea Krill Survey (LAKRIS) ("Polarstern" cruises ANT-XXI/4, ANT-XXIII/6, ANT-XXIV/2). The first mentioned data were provided by V. Siegel (retired; formerly Thünen Institute), the LAKRIS data by H. Flores (AWI). Those data were complemented by benthic trawl survey data, which were collected during seven "Polarstern" cruises between 1996 and 2011 (ANT-XIII/3, ANT-XV/3, ANT-XVII/3, ANT-XIX/5, ANT-XXI/2, ANT-XXIII/8, ANT-XXVII/3) and were provided by R. Knust (AWI) as well as by data on counts of fish species from trawl and dredge samples by Drescher et. (2012), Ekau et al. (2012a, b), Hureau et al. (2012), Kock et al. (2012) and Wöhrmann et al. (2012). An inverse distance weighted interpolation was performed for a 10 nautical mile radius around each record. Areas with highest numbers of P. antarctica (〉 36 individuals/1000 m²) occurred offshore Riiser -Larsen Ice Shelf and on the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf offshore Filchner Ice Shelf. Demersal fish: The map of predicted habitat suitability for demersal fish is based on data, which were collected during seven "Polarstern" cruises between 1996 and 2011 (ANT-XIII/3, ANT-XV/3, ANT-XVII/3, ANT-XIX/5, ANT-XXI/2, ANT-XXIII/8, ANT-XXVII/3) and were provided by R. Knust (AWI). The habitat suitability model was developed by the use of the modelling package "biomod2". Most suitable habitat conditions for demersal fish in the wider Weddell Sea occurred on the continental shelf between approx. 5° and 30°W, on the shelf west and east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as well as around the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. Nesting sites of demersal fish: The map on observation of nesting sites of demersal fish is based on data, which were collected during "Polarstern" cruises ANT-XXVII/3, ANT-XXIX/9 and ANT-XXXI/2 and were obtained by T. Lundälv (retired; formerly University of Gothenburg), D. Gerdes (retired; formerly AWI) and E. Riginella (University of Padova), respectively. Those data were complemented by a literature research. Most nesting sites were observed west of 25°W, north of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. More information is given in the working paper WG-EMM-16/03 submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management CCAMLR (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-emm-16). Revised versions of the spatial analysis are described in working paper WG-SAM-17/30 and WS-SM-18/13 submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Statistics, Assessments and Modelling and the CCAMLR Workshop on Spatial Management, respectively (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-sam-17; https://www.ccamlr.org/en/ws-sm-18).

Description: Here we provide two ArcGIS map packages with georeferenced files on the spatial distribution of sponges and echinoderms in the wider Weddell Sea (Antarctica), which were created in the context of the development of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea. Sponges: The map of interpolated occurrence of sponges is based on quantitative abundance data (Gerdes 2014 a - o) and on semi-quantitative data obtained by W. Arntz (retired; formerly AWI) (see Teschke & Brey 2019a for presence / absence records of the latter dataset). The abundance data were classified to be merged with the semi-quantitative data and an inverse distance weighted method was performed on the united dataset. Areas with very common occurrence of sponges occurred on the shelf near Brunt Ice Shelf along Riiser - Larsen Ice Shelf to Ekstrøm Ice Shelf. Echinoderms: A cluster analysis with species x station datasets of asteroids (Teschke & Brey 2019b), ophiuroids (Teschke & Brey 2019c) and holothurians (Gutt et al. 2014) from the Antarctic Weddell Sea indicated a particular cold-water echinoderm fauna on the Filchner shelf. We approximated this potential habitat by bottom temperature ≤ -1°, based on seawater temperature data from the Finite Element Sea Ice - Ocean Model provided by R. Timmermann (AWI). More information on the spatial analysis is given in working paper WG-EMM-16/03 submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-emm-16).