In 2012 RRS James Clark Ross investigated the marine benthic biodiversity of the southern Weddell Sea (JR275), in 2016 the marine benthic biodiversity of the South Orkney Islands (JR15005) and in 2018 the marine benthic biodiversity of the Prince Gustav Channel area. In 2019 RV Polarstern investigated the marine benthic biodiversity of the eastern Antarctic Peninsula (PS119). During all expeditions macrobenthic isopod fauna (Peracarida, Crustacea) was collected by a total of 37 epibenthic sledge (EBS) and assessed for species richness and abundance. In total 27099 isopod specimens assigned to 228 morphospecies and 78 genera were identified. To set the isopod dataset into a wider context of species diversity, published isopod species richness data from a further EBS collected stations during the ANDEEP I-III expeditions (ANT XIX/2-3, ANT XXII-3) in the Weddell Sea (Brandt et al. 2007) were added.

This dataset provides data for 1) Isopoda EBS station locations and environmental data, 2) EBS Isopoda abundance data JR275, JR15005, JR17003a and PS118, 3) Isopoda species absence/presence data JR275, JR15005, JR17003a and PS118, 4) Isopoda species absence/presence data ANDEEP Weddell Sea only.

Funding for KL, HJG, and the RRS James Clark Ross expeditions was provided by NERC for NC Science (JR275, JR15005) and for NERC urgency grant NE/R012296/1 'Benthic biodiversity under Antarctic ice-shelves - baseline assessment of the seabed exposed by the 2017 calving of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf' (JR17003a). Ship time for EBS work during PS118 was provided to Linse et al. via a co-user grant from Leitstelle Deutsche Forschungsschiffe (AWI-PS118_7). Funding for DD was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant Br1121/51-1. Financial support for the ANDEEP I-III expeditions was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant Br1121/22/1-3.