Mesopelagic community structure on the southern Kerguelen Axis

From January to March 2016, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Corporate Research Centre (ACE CRC) led an integrated ecosystem survey voyage on the Southern Kerguelen Axis (the region spanning BANZARE Bank and the Princess Elizabeth Trough (PET), south toward the Antarctic continental shelf and Prydz Bay). The voyage track spanned 8 850 km, comprised of eight sampling transects, which were designed to encompass major environmental transitions in the area (Figure 1). Overarching goals of this voyage were to characterise pelagic food-web structure and major energy pathways in the region, and to pilot methodologies for future ecosystem observation and monitoring. A key component of the study was sampling the mesopelagic community to resolve key drivers of the abundance and biomass of major mesopelagic taxa (fishes, crustaceans, squids and gelatinous zooplankton), which are key prey for higher-trophic levels, and represent an important alternative energy pathway to krill.