In early 2004 the Victoria Land Transect project sampled coastal north-western Ross Sea shelf benthos at Cape Adare, Cape Hallett, Cape Russell and Coulman Island from 100–500 m deep. We describe the benthic macrofaunal assemblages at these locations and, to assess the use of seafloor sediment characteristics and/or depth measures in bioregionalizations, determine the extent to which assemblage compositions are related to measured differences in these factors. Percentages of fine sand and silt, the ratio of sediment chlorophyll a to phaeophytin, and depth were identified as important explanatory variables, but in combination they explained only 17.3% of between-location differences in assemblages. Consequently, these variables are clearly not strong determinants of macrofaunal assemblage structure. Latitude per se was not a useful measure of community variability and change. A significant correlation between both number of individuals and number of taxa and sediment phaeophytin concentration across locations suggests that the distribution of the benthos reflects their response to seafloor productivity. A number of factors not measured in this study have probably influenced the structure and function of assemblages and habitats. We discuss the implications of the results to marine classifications, and stress the need to incorporate biogenic habitat complexity into protection strategies.

Antarctic plunderfishes (Notothenioidei, Artedidraconidae) are important components of the Southern Ocean fish fauna. As a contribution to the Victoria Land Transect Project, we performed a cytogenetic analysis of six species from three of the four artedidraconid genera, Artedidraco glareobarbatus, A. orianae, A. skottsbergi, A. shackletoni, Histiodraco velifer, and Pogonophryne sp. We investigated the species-specific cytogenetic features and highlighted patterns of chromosomal evolutionary change using a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Despite a conserved diploid number, some important karyotypic traits account for major differences among artedidraconid species. Specific cytogenetic features, including the chromosomal organization of ribosomal genes and the occurrence of sex chromosomes, are characteristics of A. skottsbergi, making this species distinct among those studied. These chromosomal peculiarities are consistent with the phylogenetic hypothesis resolving A. skottsbergi as the sister lineage of all other Artedidraconidae. A karyological similarity was found between A. glareobarbatus and A. shackletoni consistent with their inferred sister species relationship in the phylogeny. The results indicate that artedidraconids are not conservative in their genomic organization at the chromosomal level and provide new evidence for the degree of biological diversity in this notothenioid group.