Comparable deep-water benthos datasets collected by epibenthic sledges (EBS) with an epibenthic and a suprabenthic netsampler in the Atlantic Ocean have been gathered since 2006. They were collected during the international research expeditions: ANDEEP-SYSTCO II, BIOPEARL I, DIVA1-3, IceAGE1-3&RR, IceDIVA1,2, JR275 and Vema-TRANSIT. While EBS diversity data at high taxon level were published for ANDEEP_SYSTCO II, DIVA1-3 and Vema-TRANSIT, unpublished diversity data for BIOPEARL I, IceAGE1-3&RR, IceDIVA1, 2 and JR275 came from sample databases at DZMB Senckenberg and British Antarctic Survey, and are published here for the first time. In total, diversity data for 143 EBS deployments from 13 expeditions were available for analyses based on identification on 50 taxon levels, including phyla, subphyla, classes and orders. During all 13 expeditions EBS with an epibenthic and a suprabenthic netsampler following sampler sizes and height , enabling comparability of samples. This type of EBS was a suitable device for sampling small benthic fauna on and above the seabed, including macrofauna and small-sized megafauna. We analyse pan-Atlantic benthic data from a range (119m - 8338m) of depths. For the pan-Atlantic analyses we defined seven regions to pool EBS locations based on their position North and South of the Equator and to the mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR): East and West of the MAR, the Vema Fracture Zone as a gap in the MAR, the Southern Ocean south of the MAR and the Puerto Rico Trench as a deep-sea trench. In this study we included data for 41 higher taxa of the initially separated 50 taxa ranging from phyla to orders. The environmental parameters for this study were provided by Bio-ORACLE, which identifies mean values for different physical and chemical variables over a 14 year time period through a combination of satellite and in-situ measurements (2000 - 2014), at a resolution of 5 arcmin. 4 multivariate analyses (principal components analysis, analysis of similarities, similarity of percentages and BioEnv BEST) were carried out on standardised abundances using PRIMER software, the results and parameters of which are presented in this dataset. Funding over the years for the sample collection and analyses was provided by multiple NERC grants and international grants. Katrin Linse, Peter Enderlein and Huw J. Griffiths were part of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme funded by The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [NC-Science] and included the funding for the RSS James Clark Ross expeditions BIOPEARL I and JR275. This study was directly funded by the IceAGE_RR and IceDIVA grants by the German Science Foundation (DFG) and Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under grant numbers MSM75 (MerMet17-5), SO280 and SO286 to PIs Saskia Brix, James Taylor and Katrin Linse. Funding for previous expeditions that provided data were: IceAGE1-3, BR3843-3-1& 4-1, & SO276 (MerMet17-6). James Taylor and Karlotta Kurzel were supported via DFG grant GPF 20-3_087 as part of the IceDiva project 2021 - 2022 by DFG. Anne-Nina Lorz was funded by the German Science Foundation Project IceAGE Amphipoda, LO2543/1-1. Additionally, Angelika Brandt was granted funding (SO 237, Forderziffer 03G0237A) by the Bauer Foundation for the VEMA-Transit project. Inmaculada Frutos was supported through the junior research group''''Vema TRANSIT. Puerto Rico Trench, Vema Fracture Zone and Abyssal Atlantic Biodiversity Study'''' as part of the project ''''Biodiversitatnachhaltige Ressourcennutzun'''' (Aktenzeichen T237/25054/).

Measures of feeding activity in 17 species of shallow water marine benthos, as assessed visually by SCUBA divers. The aim of the study was to determine the seasonal and interannual variability in feeding activity. Data were taken once or twice a month over the period from October 1997 to May 2005. Not all species were monitored for the entire duration of the study, and the number of observations per species ranged from 21 to 133.

Macrofaunal mediated redistribution of optically distinct particulate tracers (luminophores) for intact communities from the western Barents Sea after 12 days incubation. Tracer profiles are quantified from stitched composite images of all four sides of each aquarium taken using a digital SLR camera housed within a UV illuminated imaging box. Counts are expressed as relative counts (proportion of the total). Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Sediment organic material content obtained from replicate 0.1m2 USNL (Unites States Naval Laboratory) box cores are determined by loss on ignition. Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Sediment cores were taken using a box corer. The sediment was subsampled using a 20 x 20 x 12 cm and incubated for 12 days. At the end of incubation, the macrofauna retained (500 um sieved) from each aquarium were fixed in 10% phosphate buffered formalin (4% formaldehyde) and stored in sealed plastic buckets for a minimum of three months. Prior to identification samples were rinsed and preserved in 70% industrial methylated spirit (IMS). Using a stereo microscope, all the animals were picked out of the residue, stored in vials containing 70% IMS, and identified to the lowest possible taxon with abundance and biomass per taxon noted. Biomass was obtained using blotted wet weight (+/- 0.0001g). The individual numbers of each taxa were counted to give abundance data. This was determined by the presence of a head in cases where specimens had been damaged. Any badly damaged specimens or parts of specimens where no head was present were separated into major group debris (annelid, mollusc and crustacea) pots and their presence noted as YES/NO for abundance). All molluscs were weighed inclusive of shells, tube dwelling polychaetes were weighed without tubes, and sediment was removed from the body cavity of specimens of Ctenodiscus crispatus prior to weighing. Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Images of the macrofaunal mediated redistribution of optically distinct particulate tracers (luminophores) for intact communities from the western Barents Sea after 12 days incubation. Images of all four sides of each aquarium are taken using a digital SLR camera housed within a UV illuminated imaging box. Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Images of the macrofaunal mediated redistribution of optically distinct particulate tracers (luminophores) for intact communities from the western Barents Sea after 12 days incubation. Images taken from above each aquarium using a digital SLR camera. Samples were collected on the cruise JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'''''' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Piston core PS1506, a repeat of core PS1387, was collected from a midslope bench on the continental margin on the southern limb of the Weddell Gyre in the vicinity of cores PS1388 and PS1389. At these core sites in the Weddell Sea, polynyas enabled continuous primary productivity and benthic life during glacial periods. PS1506 is situated at 2426 m water depth. The core is beneath the depth of the average modern saturation horizon based on the carbonate chemistry of eastern Weddell Sea waters but above the local CCD (carbonate compensation depth).

Sediment particle size frequency distributions from the USNL (Unites States Naval Laboratory) box cores were determined optically using a Malvern Mastersizer 2000 He-Ne LASER diffraction sizer and were used to resolve mean particle size, sorting, skewness and kurtosis. Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.

Measurements of benthic invertebrate particle reworking, bioirrigation, and associated nutrient concentrations used in the analyses by Solan et al. 2020 (see referenced publication) for shipboard incubations of replicate macrofaunal communities from the Western Barents Sea during summer 2017 and summer 2018. Samples were collected on cruises JR16006 and JR17007. Funding was provided by ''The Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor (ChAOS) - how changing sea ice conditions impact biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystems'' project (NE/N015894/1 and NE/P006426/1, 2017-2021), part of the NERC funded Changing Arctic Ocean programme.