Planktonic stages of benthic octopuses can reach relatively large sizes in some species, usually in oceanic, epipelagic waters while living as part of the macroplankton. These young octopuses appear to delay settlement on the seabed for an undetermined period of time that is probably longer than for those octopus paralarvae living in coastal, neritic waters. The reason for this delay is unknown and existing information about t...

This study describes the spawning of the fatheads Psychrolutes marmoratus and Cottunculus granulosus , two psychrolutid species that inhabit the shelf edge and continental slope of the south‐west Atlantic. Females lay large eggs of c. 2·5 mm ( P. marmoratus ) and 4·5–5·0 mm ( C. granulosus ); fecundity is from the hundreds ( C. granulosus ) to a few thousand eggs ( P. marmoratus ). Egg maturation is synchronous in P. marmoratu...

Stomach contents of 4808 fishes of 20 species caught in the eastern part of the Patagonian Shelf between 1999 and 2012 were analysed to assess dietary contributions of gelatinous plankton resources. Gelatinous plankton occurred in diets of seven species with two species, Patagonotothen ramsayi and Squalus acanthias , having >10% ctenophores in their diet. Consumption of gelatinous plankton was important in P. ramsayi and was s...

Seasonal changes in relative abundance and biomass of nektonic predators were analysed on the eastern Patagonian Shelf and continental slope; one of the most productive large marine ecosystems of the southern hemisphere. Several migratory types were revealed for species belonging to either temperate or sub‐Antarctic faunas. Despite high productivity, only a few large nektonic predators spend their entire life cycle on the east...

The eastern Patagonian Shelf and continental slope of the south‐west Atlantic Ocean support a high biodiversity and abundance of skates. In this study, meso‐scale differences in the assemblages, spatial and seasonal distributions of skates are revealed among six habitat zones of the eastern Patagonian Shelf characterized by distinctive oceanographic conditions. Most skates belonged to temperate fauna, and their abundance was m...

Population characteristics of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides were investigated based on material collected from both trawl and longline fisheries in Falkland Islands’ waters. The fish occurred between 56 and 2122 m and attained 225 cm total length ( L T ). Males matured earlier, L T at 50% maturity was 86 cm for males v . 90 cm for females. Subadult fish foraged at depths of 600 m. Spawning occurred on slope...

The reproductive biology of Eleginops maclovinus was examined in the Falkland Islands between October 2000 and December 2002. Males predominated at total lengths ( L T ) of 10 to 52 cm and females at >53 cm L T . Length frequency analysis showed a bimodal distribution with females representing the larger mode for every month during the study period. Gonad histology revealed that 19% of the histological samples studied were con...

The ontogenetic and seasonal variations in the feeding spectrum were studied in 756 specimens of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides (16–159 cm total length, L T ) collected on the shelf, continental slope and bathyal waters (67–1960 m, depth range) around the Falkland Islands between April 1999 and August 2002. On the shelf, small toothfish ( L T ) were active predators taking mostly one relatively large prey it...

The manefish Caristius groenlandicus , the spiny eel Notacanthus sexspinis , the cutthroat eel Diastobranchus capensis and the Giant Grenadier Albatrossia pectoralis are new records for the waters of the Falkland Islands, and the latter is a new record in the Atlantic Ocean.