Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)

We describe the biodiversity of the Antarctic pioneer benthic communities of TNB sampled using the ARMS installed at the Italian research station "Mario Zucchelli". ARMS is a standardised, reproducible and comparable method for quantifying biodiversity. This dataset provides essential baseline data on the occurrence and abundance of pioneer benthic communities in this study area, representing an important contribution for understanding the dynamics of benthic pioneer communities in an area where these structures have never been deployed and, in general, for an exposure time that largely exceed the standard one, which is usually of one year only.The 277 occurrences reported here have been classified at the lowest possible taxonomic level and comprise 39 recognised species, 49 genera and 43 families. Approximately 98% of the samples are stored in 96% ethanol, while the others at -20°C, representing a potential resource for future genetic studies. To date, the entire ARMS collection has not been DNA barcoded, although preliminary metabarcoding analyses have already been published in Cecchetto et al. (2024). Outcomes of the barcoding activity will be the target of another future publication (Cometti et al., in prep). The publication of this data paper was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution to the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (bio diversity.aq).