A comprehensive species list of marine invertebrates of Alaska has been lacking. The checklist of Austin (1985) treated the marine invertebrates of the southern coast of Alaska to California and since then many new species have been described, many range extensions have been discovered, and considerable changes in higher-level systematics have been made. The checklist we compiled lists over 3,500 species and includes the currently accepted scientific name and its significant synonyms, common names, type localities, geographic and depth distributions, a general statement of abundance in Alaska when known (e.g., rare, uncommon, common, abundant), and general remarks. This checklist will serve as a foundation for future species-specific research. Updated species lists are necessary to reflect the current state of biodiversity knowledge and are thus essential for conservation planning and management. To monitor and predict future changes to marine life, the distribution and abundance of marine species need to be better understood, and this can only be achieved with reliable identifications based on a sound taxonomy. The current status and future directions of Alaskan marine invertebrate biodiversity are briefly discussed.

A total of 70 stations were occupied. The standard FOCI grid and line 8 were samped. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively). A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. On line 8 CTD casts were also taken. We left Dutch Harbor at 2300 on May 31 (GMT time) and arrived at our first grid station, GV147, at approximately 0500 on June 2. The deployment and retrieval of both the 60 cm bongo and the neuston gear were successful until the weather conditions became too severe to continue sampling our planned grid stations on the evening of June 2 after station 13 (HH151) was completed. Operations were resumed at GV151 on June 4 at 0200 until another storm made sampling conditions difficult after station 55 (HD 165) on June 7 at 0330. We waited in Alitak Bay on the south end of Kodiak Island to resume sampling. Since so much sampling time had already been lost due to weather, it was decided to abandon the rest of the planned grid stations below Shelikof Strait and steam to Line 8 and resume sampling there. We arrived at the first Line 8 station and began sampling at 2230 on June 7. After all six of the Line 8 stations were completed, we resumed sampling at designated grid stations until it was necessary to head into port on June 9.

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).

Otolith data are collected to measure age and growth of larval pollock. They are used to determine whether growth rate, hatch data and/or temperature influence fish size.

The cruise began when the ship departed Dutch Harbor on October 1, 2011 at 1500 ADT. Sampling commenced at collection site 1E, which corresponds to Station 1. Station number reflects the order of site occupation (see Cruise Report Table 1, Figures 1 and 2). All but one of the Semidi grid sites were successfully occupied by 10 October. Site 2B was not occupied successfully because the midwater trawl was torn by bottom contact and we chose to forgo sampling there in favor of running to the next station while the deck crew removed the tangled trawl from the net reel. Unfortunately, removing the net took about 12 hrs because the net became tangled on the reel. Only 17 of the 32 Kodiak grid sites were successfully occupied (Table 1). This was largely due to an overly ambitious cruise plan. Overall, samples were successfully collected to address cruise objectives (no. sites, gear type): time series (n=26 sites, midwater Stauffer trawl), resource selection models (RSM, n=35 sites, 3-m plumb staff beam trawl), potential prey (n=9 sites, 60-cm bongo, epibenthic sled, Van Veen grab infauna), and juvenile fish production (relevant data were collected at all sites). At nine sites, including Station 39, the sea floor was too rough to sample on bottom so only a midwater sample was collected. This additional sampling was to supplement collections made for the GOA-Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (RHeintz, see above Samples Collected) and for a study of otolith element composition. Sampling concluded after three unsuccessful attempts to obtain a sediment composition sample at Site 27G (Station 56) at approximately 03:25 on 14 October 2011.

A total of 64 stations were occupied along onshore-offshore transect lines from the Bering Strait to Barrow Canyon. At each station we sampled zooplankton using a 1m^2 Tucker Sled with 333 micron mesh nets. One net was fished entirely along the bottom. The second net collected zooplankton from the bottom to the surface. Inside this second net was a 150 micron mesh, 25 cm diamter Clarke-Bumpus net to collect the smaller zooplankton species. Both Tucker nets had a calibrated General Oceanics flow meter mounted inside the net mouth. A SeaBird FastCat (SBE 49) was attached to the top of the Tucker Sled to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. A multi-frequecy acoustic systems (TAPS-6) was also mounted on the top of the sled frame for acoustic determination of zooplankton biomass and size composition. The device insonified a small volume directly in the path of the net. During the cruise we recovered a multi-frequency acoustic device that had been moored off of Icy Cape for almost one year and then deployed two more acoustic devices to overwinter.

1.Conduct tandem 20 cm (153 mesh size) and 60 cm (505 mesh size) Bongo net tows at all grid stations (Table 2) working from west to east. Deployments were made aft from the hydrographic winch, with a Seacat CTD mounted just above the nets to monitor their depth during deployment. Tows were to a maximum of 200 m or 5 b?? 10 m off bottom. 60 cm Net 1 (or side A) bongo sample was immediately preserved for ichthyoplankton. 60 cm Net 2 (or side B) bongo sample was sorted for fish larvae, quantitatively retaining all zooplankton, and then preserved for zooplankton. The sorted fish larvae were placed in 20 ml glass scintillation vials filled with genetic-grade ethanol. 2.Conduct 505 B5m mesh neuston net tows at all grid stations. Deployment was made starboard from the mid-ship crane. 3.Conduct CTD casts, with bottles triggered for macro-nutrients, chlorophyll a and microzooplankton at a subset of stations. Chlorophyll size-fractionation (20 B5m only) were be done at all stations b?? a replicate subset of macronutrients samples were prefiltered prior to freezing. Size-fractionated chlorophyll was extracted on fresh filters without freezing, while total chlorophyll was frozen for later analysis 4.Primary production incubations and iron measurements originally planned for this cruise could not be conducted due to schedule overlap with the Thompson.

The trawl database contains multiple tables of data. The ‘haul’ table contains the location, date, time and depth of the trawl haul. The ‘catch’ table contains the numbers and weights of the taxa in each haul. The ‘length’ table contains the lengths of selected taxa in each haul. There is data for the eastern Bering Sea for 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. There is Gulf of Alaska trawl data from 1993 to 2015.

The dataset contains records of fish eggs and larvae collected during FOCI assessment surveys. Records include all data pertinent to identify where specimens were collected (lat, lon, date, gear used, max depth of gear, water depth). Specific data on specimens includes scientific name, stage of development, number collected (whole numbers and CPUE), lengths of larvae, and diameters and stages of eggs. In addition, there are comments that explain any irregularities that may have occurred during sample collection; depending on the reason data is being extracted, comments may indicate a sample is not suitable for consideration.