Benthic samples ranging in size from bacteria to fish, together with environmental data, will be collected from a variety of localities in the north-east Atlantic from the continental shelf to abyssal depths. The samples will be analysed using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative techniques and the resulting data used in a series of individual projects with specific objectives within the general aims. These projects will deal with community structure based on both taxa and size; variability of the communities in time and space; reproductive biology, demography and feeding strategies of individual species; and the relationship between all of these features and biotic and abiotic environmental factors.