Demersal fish assemblages from the bathyal grounds of the Ionian Sea (middle-eastern Mediterranean)

Data collected during four trawl surveys conducted in the Ionian Sea were u sed to describe the: structure and spatial distribution of the demersal ass emblages (fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods) on the bathyal grounds. Samp les were taken from depths of 200 to 700 m during spring and autumn of 1994 and 1995. Classification and ordination of the demersal communities were c onducted with cluster and correspondence analyses, respectively. Species assemblages were associated with depth. Two faunal assemblages were identified in the uppermost (about 200 - 400 m) and in the deepest (about 400 - 700 m) investigated bottoms. The former was characterized by greater abundance and biomass of mostly hake, blue whiting, rose shrimp and Norway lobster. The latter was represented by deep-water sharks, macrourids and de ep-water decapod crustaceans. On the upper slope, two main geographic areas (one north of the Taranto valley the other south) were distinguished in th e correspondence analysis.