Zooplankton were collected during the winter-spring transition during two cruises of the Aurora Australis: SIPEX in 2007 and SIPEX II in 2012. To determine size and biomass, key species were measured. Measurements of Prosome, Urosome and Total length are provided. The zooplankton were taken from samples collected with umbrella nets, RMT1 net and sea ice cores. They were measured under a Leica M165C steromicroscope using an ocular micrometer. The ocular micrometer was calibrated against a stage micrometer (+/- 0.01 um).

A list of taxa and observations of phytoplankton collected from the SAZ Sense voyage of the Aurora Australis - voyage 3 of the 2006-2007 season. These data are available via the biodiversity database. The collection contains 26 taxa and 562 observations. More information about SAZ SENSE: The overall objective is to characterise Southern Ocean marine ecosystems, their influence on carbon dioxide exchange with the atmosphere and the deep ocean, and their sensitivity to past and future global change including climate warming, ocean stratification, and ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In particular we plan to take advantage of naturally-occurring, persistent, zonal variations in Southern Ocean primary production and biomass in the Australian Sector to investigate the effects of iron addition from natural sources, and CO2 addition from anthropogenic sources, on Southern Ocean plankton communities of differing initial structure and composition. SAZ-SENSE is a study of the sensitivity of Sub-Antarctic Zone waters to global change. A 32-day oceanographic voyage onboard Australia's ice-breaker Aurora Australis was undertaken in mid-summer (Jan 17 - Feb. 20) 2007 to examine microbial ecosystem structure and biogeochemical processes in SAZ waters west and east of Tasmania, and also in the Polar Frontal Zone south of the SAZ. The voyage brought together research teams from Australasia, Europe, and North America, and was led by the ACE CRC, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, and the Australian Antarctic Division. The overall goal is to understand the controls on Sub-Antarctic Zone productivity and carbon cycling, and to assess their sensitivity to climate change. The strategy is to compare low productivity waters west of Tasmania (areas with little phytoplankton) with higher productivity waters to the east, with a focus on the role of iron as a limiting micro-nutrient. The study also seeks to examine the effect of rising CO2 levels on phytoplankton - both via regional intercomparisons and incubation experiments.

Taken from the abstracts of the referenced papers: Distribution patterns of pelagic fish, larvae and juveniles collected by RMT trawls during BROKE survey to CCAMLR Division 58.4.1 were investigated. Nearly 2000 individuals, weighing 1210 g, were collected from approximately 1.5 million cubic metres of the upper 200 m of ocean, supporting the theory that Antarctic ichthyoplankton has low biomass. The collection consisted mainly of P. antarcticum larvae and juveniles and E. antarctica sub-adults, with a range of other notothenioid fish and myctophids. Three distinct biogeographic zones, with characteristic ichthyo- and zooplankton assemblages, were identified. The Oceanic Zone was dominated by myctophids and, in the western reaches, the paralepidid N. coasti. The shelf break zone comprised of myctophids, and the juveniles of notothenioid fish. The shelf zone consisted of notothenioid juveniles and sub-adults. Characteristic water masses and associated zooplankton assemblages were found throughout these three zones. Analysis of fish stomach contents indicated feeding on locally abundant zooplankton taxa. There was niche-partitioning of prey taxa and size classes, between both sympatric species and between different ontogenetic stages. Fish distributions corresponded to known patterns, and extended the geographic range of several species. Zooplankton data from routine 0-200 m oblique trawls were analysed using cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling to define the communities in Eastern Antarctica (80-150 E), their distribution patterns, indicator species, and species affinities. Three communities were defined based on routine trawls. The Main Oceanic Community comprising herbivorous copepods, chaetognaths, and the euphausiid Thysanoessa macrura dominated the area west of 120 E. The area east of 120 E was dominated by Salpa thompsoni. The third community located in the neritic zone was dominated by Euphausia crystallorophias. Antarctic krill Euphausia superba did not form a distinct community in its own right, unlike previous observations in Prydz Bay. Krill were distributed throughout most of the survey area but generally in higher abundances towards the shelf break. Overall, krill abundance was low compared with previous net surveys in Prydz Bay. Three main types of assemblages were identified based on target trawls. The first group was dominated by krill (mean 1149 individuals per 1000 cubic metres) which represented greater than 99% of Group 1 catches in terms of numbers and biomass. Group 2 comprised the bulk of target trawls and comprised a wide diversity of species typical of the main oceanic community, with a mean abundance approximately half of that observed in the routine trawls. The third group comprised trawls in the neritic zone dominated by E. crystallorophias. No salp-dominated aggregation was found. While E. superba did not dominate a distinct community geographically as seen in previous Prydz Bay surveys, it did dominate discrete layers or aggregations, showing that both horizontal and vertical separation of communities exist. The download file contains the following documents: 199596040Composition.csv 199596040Density.csv 199596040Biomass.csv

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 492 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of the referenced papers: Diatom assemblages in two Holocene sediment cores (GC1 and GC2) from the Mac. Robertson Shelf, East Antarctica, are compared with modern sedimentary diatom assemblages from the same area. Open marine deposition commenced in Iceberg Alley (GC1), on the outer continental shelf, greater than 10.7 adj. 14C kyr BP. Chaetoceros resting spores, which may indicate water-column stabilsation from melting glacial and/or sea ice or the maximum summer sea-ice retreat, dominate the diatom assemblage. Approximately 7.5 adj. 14C kyr BP, a sea-ice diatom assemblage was deposited. This assemblage is similar to that being deposited in the surface sediments of the Mac. Robertson Shelf today and suggests that perennial sea ice has persisted in the vicinity of Iceberg Alley since that time. Interbedded within the sea-ice assemblage, however, are Corethron-rich sediment layers that suggest mid- to late-Holocene high-productivity events associated with a climatic optimum. The diatom record from Nielsen Basin (GC2), on the inner continental shelf, is relatively uniform compared to that in GC1. Glacial ice was present over the region c. greater than 5.6 adj. 14C kyr BP and a dissolution diatom assemblage was deposited beneath it. following ice retreat, an ice-edge diatom assemblage was deposited briefly before sea-ice conditions similar to that on the continental shelf today developed. There is no evidence in GC2 for the mid- to late-Holocene high-productivity events identified in GC1. Four diatom assemblages are identified from the surface sediments of Prydz Bay and the Mac. Robertson Shelf using multivariate analysis. A coastal assemblage is characterised by the sea-ice diatoms Fragilariopsis curta, F. angulata, F. cylindrus and Pseudonitzschia turgiduloides. A continental shelf assemblage is characterised by the open-water diatoms Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, Thalassiosira lenuginosa, T. gracilis var. expecta and Trichotoxin reinboldii. The Cape Darnley assemblage contains both sea-ice and open-water diatoms, but all are characteristically large and heavily silicified. Multiple regression has been used to identify the relationships between the diatom assemblages and known environmental variables. There are strong correlations between the coastal, shelf and oceanic assemblages and ecological conditions, including latitude, sea-ice distribution and ocean currents. The Cape Darnley assemblage is thought to represent an assemblage from which the smaller and more lightly silicified species have been removed by current winnowing. The palaeo-depositional environment of inner Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, has been reconstructed for the past 21,320 14C yr B.P., using diatom assemblages and sediment facies from a short, 352 cm long gravity core. Between 21,320 and 11,650 14C yr B.P., compact tillite and diamicton are present in the core, and diatom frustules are rare to absent. These data suggest that an ice sheet grounded over the site during the last glacial maximum. Following glacial retreat, siliceous muddy ooze was deposited, from 11,650 to 2600 14C yr B.P., in an open marine setting. During this stage, diatom frustules are abundant and well preserved, and Thalassiosira antarctica resting spores and Fragilariopsis curta dominate the assemblage. This assemblage suggests open marine deposition in an environment where the spatial and temporal distribution of sea ice is less than today. Since 2600 14C yr B.P., sea-ice and ice-edge diatom species have become more abundant, and neoglacial cooling is inferred. The assemblage is similar to that forming currently in Prydz Bay, where sea-ice is absent (less than 10% cover) for 2-3 months of the year and permanent ice edge and/or multiyear sea ice remains in close proximity to the site.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 473 See the link below for public details on this project. Data for this project was primarily collected on two voyages to the Heard Island area - the HIMS voyage (1990), and the FISHOG voyage (1992). The data have been compiled by Angela McGaffin, and can be found in the "processed" folder of the download file. Original datasets are also available in the "Original Datasets" folder. The data primarily consist of CTD data, krill data and zooplankton data. HIMS was a marine science voyage, which travelled to Heard Island in May and June of 1990. FISHOG was a marine science voyage, which travelled to Heard Island and Antarctica from January to March of 1992.

Data are "phytoplankton counts" for each phytoplankton taxon observed, from the CPR samples collected by the Southern Ocean CPR Survey projects 472 and 4107 (Hosie et al. 2003). The SAHFOS on-silk phytoplankton count method is used (Batten et al. 2003). Phytoplankton are identified to the best taxonomic level possible, ideally to species or at least genus, in 20 fields of view (295 plus or minus 10 microns) per sample (section of silk). See Figure 2 of Batten et al. (2003). Each sample usually represents 5 nautical miles for SO-CPR. The "phytoplankton count" is the number of fields of view where a phytoplankton species/ taxon was observed, recorded for each taxon for each sample. It is effectively a frequency of occurrence score. The CPR is a device towed at normal ship speed, approximately 100 m behind the ship at a depth of 8-10 m. Plankton enter a small aperture 12.7 x 12.7 mm which then expands into a tunnel 100 x 50 mm reducing the speed by about 1/30. Plankton are then sandwiched between two sheets of 270 micron silk gauze, before rolling into a preservation tank of formaldehyde. Each tow is approximately 450 nautical miles. Regardless of ship speed the silk advances at a fixed rate of about 1 cm per nautical mile. Silks are cut into 5 nautical mile equivalent lengths and both phyto- an zooplankton are counted. Each sample is coded with time and date (GMT) and latitude and Longitude, plus averaged environmental data over the 5 nautical miles, e.g. water temperature, salinity, fluorescence, light. Zooplankton data and methods are described in Metadata record AADC-00099. Abbreviations CPR, Continuous Plankton Recorder SAHFOS, Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science SO-CPR , Southern Ocean CPR Survey

Large volumes of water (200 - 500 L) were filtered and fractionated by size for various planktonic components: eukaryotic phytoplankton, prokaryotic picoplankton, and marine viruses. Sample sites were chosen to generate the widest diversity, and included planktonic blooms, oligotrophic zones, small polynyas near sea ice, nearshore areas, and Antarctic bottom water from coastal, canyon and deepwater areas. Half of each sample will be used for DNA library construction, and the other half will be used for meta-proteomic analysis. Random shotgun sequencing of the marine genomic libraries should produce a metagenomic snapshot of planktonic life in a variety of marine habitats. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 2899 (ASAC_2899).

Measures of abalone biology - length, weight, growth rate in the Spencer Gulf, South Australia.

Mesopelagic fish gut content data from the Kerguelen Axis ecosystem study (AAS_4344): These data are based on samples collected as part of the Kerguelen Axis marine ecosystem study (AAS_4344), chief scientist Andrew Constable. This research was supported by the Australian government under the (i) Cooperative Research Centre Program through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC), (ii) Australian Antarctic Science Program (Projects 4343, 4344, 4347 and 4366), and (iii) Australian Research Council’s Special Research Initiative for Antarctic Gateway Partnership (Project ID SR140300001). The preferred citation is: Riaz, J., Walters, A., Trebilco, R., Bestley, S., Lea, M-A. (2019) Stomach content analysis of mesopelagic fish from the southern Kerguelen Axis. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. Samples for gut content analysis were collected on board the R.S.V Aurora Australis during the austral summer of 2016 (22 January-17 February) during the Kerguelen Axis marine ecosystem survey (AAS_4344). Analyses focused on four of the most common and widespread Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish species: three myctophids (Electrona antarctica, Gymnoscopelus braueri, Krefftichthys anderssoni), and one bathylagid (Bathylagus antarcticus). Species were sampled across a broad range of size classes to investigate the influence of predator size on predator and prey size relationships. Fish were collected from six sampling stations along the major south-to-north transect of the Kerguelen Axis. Three sampling sites were located in subpolar waters south of the Southern Boundary (SB) of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) over the Princess Elizabeth Trough. The other three sampling sites were located north of the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Circulation Front (SACCF) over the Banzare Bank on the southern Kerguelen Plateau.The contribution and relative importance of prey taxa to stomach contents was quantified with four traditional metrics of dietary composition (Hyslop 1980). These were calculated for each fish species separately at northern and southern sampling stations, and across species within all stations. Hyslop, E. J. (1980) Stomach contents analysis-a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology 17:411.