35° - 45° N, west coast of Portugal (including continental slope) out to 35° W

Zooplankton and zoobenthos morphological parameters; Fish morphology, age and physiology; Fish taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Insect and earthworm taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Zoobenthos taxonomic abundance; Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts; Zooplankton and zoobenthos development stage parameters; Fauna abundance per unit area of the bed

Pelagic trawl nets; benthos samplers; unconsolidated sediment corers

The cruises aimed to describe deep-sea macro- and megabenthos communities in relation to bathymetry and canyon parameters. Macrobenthos community structure was particularly addressed on RRS Discovery 186. A unique series of transponder mapped box cores was obtained from two sites: 1) Tagus abyssal plain (5035m depth) and Lower Satubal Canyon (3360 - 3546m depth). The box cores have all been sorted, with many taxa identified to species level, in order to provide high quality material for comparison of macrobenthos community structure and spatial pattern at two relatively close sites differing greatly in disturbance regime.

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Argyll
Oban
PA37 1QA
United Kingdom