Diversity, relative abundance, new locality records, and updated fish fauna of the Ross Sea region

Two surveys were carried out in the Ross Sea region during February and March 2004 and 2008 from the New Zealand RV Tangaroa. Fishes were sampled on the continental shelf and slope of the Ross Sea, and on adjacent seamounts to the north, mainly using a large demersal fish trawl and a large mesopelagic fish trawl. Parts of the shelf and slope were stratified by depth and at least three random demersal trawls were completed in each stratum, enabling biomass estimates of demersal fish to be calculated. Fish distribution data from these two surveys were supplemented by collections made by observers from the toothfish fishery. A diverse collection of over 2500 fish specimens was obtained from the two surveys representing 110 species in 21 families. When combined with previous documented material this gave a total species list of 175, of which 135 were from the Ross Sea shelf and slope (to the 2000 m isobath). Demersal species-richness, diversity and evenness indices all decreased going from the shelf to the slope and the seamounts. In contrast, indices for pelagic species were similar for the slope and seamounts/abyss but were much lower for the shelf. Received 16 September 2012, accepted 24 October 2012, first published online 18 February 2013