We provide here a curated set of data containing fish catch weights and number of specimens taxonomically identified to lowest possible taxonomic level (species, genus, or family), specimen images annotated with taxonomic characters of pelagic, benthopelagic and mesopelagic fish, including their early life stages. Accession numbers for curated specimens (Department of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, Bergen, Norway), and mitochondiral cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) at GenBank are provided. At sea Voucher specimens for the University Museum of Bergen were frozen at -20⁰C. Later on land specimens larger than 20-25 cm were fixed in 4% formalin and then transferred and stored in 70% ethanol, smaller specimens were directly stored in 70% ethanol. Fish brought back from FV Cabo de Hornos were preserved in 96% ethanol for later examination and verification on land. Tissue samples for genetic analysis were stored in 96% ethanol. The specimens were collected by a Macroplankton trawl (~36 m² mouth opening, non-graded mesh with 3 mm light-opening) and a Harstad trawl from two expeditions across the Scotia Sea, Antarctica during austral summer (January-March) 2019. The collected material is obtained from standardized V-shaped hauls down to a maximum depth of ~200 m (Macroplankton trawl) and ~1000 m (Harstad trawl), although some shallower hauls are included either to look at vertically migrating adult mesopelagic fish that enter the epipelagic domain during nighttime hours, or because of depth restrictions due to shallow bottom topography.

This work was also financially supported by the Association of Responsible Krill Harvesting Companies (ARK; www.ark-krill.org).