Uniform bathymetric zonation of marine benthos on a Pan-Arctic scale

•We studied bathymetric zonation of benthos in the Central Arctic over a depth range spanning 14–5416 m.•Our analyses indicated faunal boundaries at depths of 650–950 m and 2600–3000 m, delineating sublittoral and bathyal fauna and bathyal and abyssal faunas, respectively.•Our original and previously published data collectively suggest uniform bathymetric patterns and overturn of benthic assemblages throughout the entire Central Arctic continental slope and abyssal plain. While numerous regional studies of bathymetric zonation of benthic fauna globally have been done, few large-scale analyses exist, and no ocean-scale studies have focused on the Arctic Ocean to date. In the present work we, hence, examined bathymetric zonation of macro- and megabenthos over a depth range spanning from the shelf to the abyssal plain (14 – 5416 m) and regionally extending from the Fram Strait to the Beaufort Sea (as a whole hereafter called the Central Arctic). Based on 104 quantitative (box-corers and grabs) and 37 semi- quantitative (trawls) samples compiled from different studies we evaluated bathymetric zonation patterns in abundance, biomass and diversity, and also compared species composition among samples. Abundance and biomass decreased with depth from > 3000 ind. m−2 and > 40 g ww m−2 to ∼ 130 ind. m−2 and