We describe the diversity of marine copepods of Terra Nova Bay (TNB) sampled by 25 μm filters installed in the desalination unit (DU) of the Italian research station "Mario Zucchelli". The opening of the intake pipe of the DU is positioned at a depth of 4 meters and allowed a total of 2,116 specimens to be sampled and recognized. In addition, new occurrence records of copepod genera and species are reported in the same zone. We provide an overview of the marine copepods diversity reported for TNB. The total 2,116 individuals correspond to 14 genera and 15 species and are represented by 167 occurrence records in this dataset. Around 52% of the total number of species are new records for the TNB area are reported in this dataset.

The larval stages can be considered as the link from plankton to benthos. In order to study larval recruitment from zoobenthos, 40 tiles were placed at each of the four sites outlined in the project: Tethys Bay (control), Rod Bay (area subject to anthropogenic impact), Faraglione (control) and Adelie Cove (area subject to natural impact, linked to the presence of a penguin house). Due to adverse environmental factors all the tiles from Faraglione were lost and from Tethys Bay only half were found. The tiles were analysed with the help of a binocular, which enabled better visualisation of the organisms and, consequently, better identification.

Antarctic ecosystems have a high number of species, that are closely linked to the presence of sea ice and seasonal cycles. This biodiversity is subject to anthropogenic and natural influences. Macrozoobenthic communities are the 'biological memory' of the ecosystem, structuring themselves as a function of environmental changes over the years. Macrozoobenthos samples were collected using suction dredging and scraping techniques, in soft and hard bottoms. Sampling occurred in 5 different sites.

We will collect stool samples from the volunteers at the Mario Zucchelli Station at different time points. The samples will be analysed by shotgun metagenomic sequencing, considering only the microbial component.

We will collect oral samples from the volunteers at the Mario Zucchelli Station at different time points, using safe and not harmfull kits. Samples will be analysed by shotgun metagenomic sequencing, considering only the microbial component.

The Italian Collection of Antarctic Bacteria (CIBAN) was established in 1989 at the Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences of the University of Messina. CIBAN is one of the few collections in the world dedicated to Antarctic bacteria and, since its inception, it has grown to include 515 cold-adapted strains belonging to 69 Genera. Bacteria were extracted from seawater, sediment, and benthic organisms, mainly from the Terra Nova Bay marine area in East Antarctica. CIBAN also hosts bacterial isolates from the continent. Quality control: Strains are routinely streaked on agar plates every six months to control purity and viability. Method steps: All cultures are maintained in duplicate on agar slants at 4 °C. Antarctic strains are also preserved by freezing cell suspensions at – 80 °C in liquid broth to which 20% glycerol is added.

This new dataset presents occurrence data for Porifera collected in the Ross Sea, mainly in the Terra Nova Bay area, and curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa). Specimens were collected in 331 different sampling stations at depths ranging from 17 to 1100 meters in the framework of 17 different Italian Antarctic expeditions funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). This dataset focuses on all classes (Calcarea, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida and Homoscleromorpha) of the Phylum Porifera (Kingdom Animalia), and includes a total of 807 specimens belonging to 144 morphospecies (with 95 taxa classified at species level and 49 at genus level), are included in the dataset and representing 12 orders and 30 families.

This dataset gathers distributional data on planktonic copepods (Crustacea, Copepoda) collected in the framework of the III, V and X Expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Program (PNRA) held in the western Ross Sea from 1987 to 1995. Sampling was conducted with BIONESS and WP2 net in 94 different sampling stations, mainly distributed in the Terra Nova Bay area, at the depth of 0-1000 meters. In terms of spatial coverage, this dataset covers 6027 distributional records that are also reported in terms of original abundance data (ind/m3) to allow a possible modelization of species distributions thanks to the availability of environmental variables that were collected together with the biological samples. The total of distributional records here reported has two different origins: 5306 are represented by bibliographic records obtained by digitizing the original data reports, whereas 721 correspond to physical museum vouchers, now curated by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). This group of museum samples comprises 8225 individual specimens, that were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. They belong to 4 orders, 25 families, 52 genera and 82 species, out of which 17 could be only determined at the genus level

This dataset illustrates the distributional data of bryozoan species, belonging to the Classes of Stenolaemata and Gymnolaemata, collected in the Ross Sea and the Magellan Strait. The collection is curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa) and it includes a total of 311 specimens corresponding to 282 MNA vouchers and belonging to 127 morphospecies. Out of these, 100 were classified to species level and 27 to genus level, representing 3 orders and 34 families. The distributional data of Bryozoa came from different research expeditions, conducted between 1988 and 2014, and include 75 sampling stations, located between 18 and 711 metres of depth.