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The DIVA (Latitudinal Gradients of Deep-sea BiodDIVersity in the Atlantic) expeditions studied benthic biodiversity of the abyssal Equatorial and South Atlantic as part of the Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar), the abyssal component of the ten-year programme Census of Marine Life (2000–2010). Three expeditions were carried out from RV Meteor between 2000 and 2009. Samples were taken along a latitudinal gradient spanning the Cape, Angola, and Guinea basins in the SE Atlantic and the Argentine and Brazilian basins in the SW Atlantic. The objectives of this study were to analyse patterns of epi- and suprabenthic macrofaunal density and composition at higher taxon level from epibenthic sledge (EBS) taken during the DIVA sampling campaigns and how they relate to differences in environmental conditions. In particular, the different oceanic basins are characterized by variation in …