Faecal pellets and eggs of Antarctic silverfish have been collected over the seasons using a sediment trap deployed on 1998 in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, Antarctica in the frame of the National Italian Antarctic Research project (PNRA). Antarctic silverfish (ASF) accounts for over 90% of the local fish communities in the Southern Ocean costal area. Samples have been investigated in order to quantify the contribution of fish faecal pellets and eggs to the export of carbon. Funding: CLIMA project (Climatic Long-term Interactions for the Mass Balance in Antarctica) of the Italian National Program for Research in Antarctica.

The data include size, sex, location and morphological measurements and of Muraenolepis specimens included in Fitzcharles et al. (2021). The morphometric data were primarily collected from fish captured during South Georgia Groundfish Surveys in 2003, 2004 and 2005, with additional data obtained from type specimens and extracted from published descriptions of Muraenolepididae. For genetic studies, tissue samples from the South Georgia specimens were supplemented by additional tissue samples from Muraenolepis in other parts of the Southern Ocean. Source, location and depth of capture are included for all specimens that were sequenced, together with sequence Accession Numbers (to the DNA Database of Japan) for Cox 1 and 16S rRNA sequences. The work was primarily funded by the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands and was a component part of Elaine Fitzcharles' PhD (University of St Andrews).

Data on the resting metabolic rate, body mass and body temperature data for a range of vertebrate and invertebrate taxa culled from the literature for a comprehensive study of scaling relationships. The data are global in extent. Funding: BAS Core Funding

These data were generated in a comparative study of protein metabolism (protein synthesis, protein growth and protein degradation) in the Antarctic plunderfish, Harpagifer antarcticus and the Northern European blenny, Lipophrys pholis. The study carried out an examination of protein metabolism in these species at a range over overlapping temperatures covering the environmental range of the species. Protein synthesis was measured using the flooding dose methodology in animals held at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK. The experimental work was carried out by Andrew Bowgen and Keiron Fraser. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of ambient habitat temperature on protein metabolism in two ecologically similar, but phylogenetically distant fish species, including one that only inhabited polar latitudes. Andrew Bowgen was funded by a NERC PhD studentship and the study was completed as part of the British Antarctic Survey, Biodiversity, Function, Limits and Adaptations from Molecules to Ecosystems (BIOFLAME) project, part of the NERC funded Biological Responses to Extreme Antarctic Conditions and Hyperextremes (BIOREACH) programme.

Acoustic backscatter data were collected on board the RRS James Clark Ross (cruise JR179) as part of the BIOFLAME-BIOPEARL programme. Data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder. Data were collected throughout the cruise which ran through the Drake Passage, Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea in the Southern Ocean, from February to April 2008. The raw data files (Simrad .raw format) are held by the Polar Data Centre (PDC) at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). *******PLEASE BE ADVISED TO USE PROCESSED DATA******* The JR179 EK60 processed data is now available at https://doi.org/10.5285/ecc51062-1338-445e-bd3c-2e63487d1953.

This dataset consists of biomass data and diet composition of mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) from the South Georgia groundfish survey, collected during scientific trawl surveys from 1986 to 2023. These data were primarily collected to produce estimates of mackerel icefish biomass to inform management of the icefish fishery, and to further our understanding of icefish ecology, distribution, and diet. Data were primarily collected by Martin A. Collins, Mark Belchier, Inigo Everson, Jude Brown, Phil Hollyman, Simeon Hill, Tom Marlow, Caradoc Jones, Rebecca Mitchell & Sue Gregory. Since 1990, the South Georgia groundfish surveys were funded by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Earlier surveys were funded by the US and Polish governments.

This dataset compiles fish length and weight measurements from the RMT-25 net hauls carried out on Discovery 2010 cruises (JR161, JR177, JR200) in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean in spring 2006, summer 2008, and autumn 2009. The dataset comprises of the station net hauls only. Research cruises were led by British Antarctic Survey aboard the RRS James Clark Ross. Net hauls were conducted along a transect from the Antarctic Polar Front to the sea ice zone in the Scotia Sea. Hauls included in this dataset are depth stratified (1000-700 m, 700-400 m, 400-200 m, 200 m to surface). Individual fish lengths, and weights were measured on board. Where weights were not measured, length-weight regressions have been used to estimate fish weight. This data set accompanies the paper by Belcher et al. in Marine Ecology Progress Series, titled, Respiration rates and active carbon flux of mesopelagic fishes (Family Myctophidae) in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean.

The dataset contains 3 data files. Firstly, it contains one set of stable isotope compositions expressed as delta13C, d15N, d34S values recovered from fish muscle from a variety of species captured in September 2019 across the Barents Sea as part of the joint IMR-PINRO Barents Sea Ecosystem Survey. Samples were collected by Dr Matthew Cobain and Dr Kim Vane, and isotope data analysed at the university of Southampton. A second dataset contains delta13C and delta18O compositions of fish otolith carbonate recovered from a subset of the same fish. A final sheet contains the full metadata associated with each fish sampled on the survey. All samples were processed by Dr Matthew Cobain or Prof Clive Trueman and stable isotope values determined at the University of Southampton. Funding: Project was funded under the NERC Changing Arctic Ocean project, Coldifsh (NE/R012520/1).

Acoustic backscatter data were collected on board the RRS James Clark Ross (cruise JR161) as part of the Discovery 2010 programme. Data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder at 38, 120 and 200 kHz. The EK60 was run continuously from Stanley (Falkland Islands) to Signy (South Orkney Islands), then to South Georgia across the Scotia Sea in the austral spring (October - December) of 2006. Dedicated acoustic transects were also run at eight stations within these transects. The EK60 was calibrated prior to data collection on a previous cruise (JR159 on 13-14th October 2006). More information about the calibration can be found in the Cruise Report for JR159: https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/information_and_inventories/cruise_inventory/report/jr152_jr159.pdf JR161 was the first of three cruises which comprise the field studies of the British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) core science Discovery 2010 programme, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. *******PLEASE BE ADVISED TO USE PROCESSED DATA******* The JR161 EK60 processed data is now available at https://doi.org/10.5285/c831d5e4-8d03-4aea-a6c6-6db101f36d8d.

Acoustic backscatter data were collected on board the RRS James Clark Ross (cruise JR177) as part of the Discovery 2010 programme. Data were collected using a Simrad EK60 echo sounder at 38, 120 and 200 kHz. The EK60 was run continuously from Stanley (Falkland Islands) to Signy (South Orkney Islands), then to South Georgia across the Scotia Sea in the austral summer from December 2007 - February 2008. Dedicated acoustic transects were also run at a number of stations within these transects. The EK60 was calibrated during JR177 (10-11th February 2008). More information about the calibration can be found in the Cruise Report for JR177: https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/information_and_inventories/cruise_inventory/report/jr177.pdf JR177 was the second of three cruises which comprise the field studies of the British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) core science Discovery 2010 programme, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. *******PLEASE BE ADVISED TO USE PROCESSED DATA******* The JR177 EK60 processed data is now available at https://doi.org/10.5285/cfc33544-e1df-4202-9d4b-c99e7f8a51d4.