IMIS

The data covers 349 stations across the entire Romanian Black Sea shelf, ranging from 16 to 1115 meters in bottom depth. Mesozooplankton samples were collected using a Juday net with a 36 cm diameter opening and 150 µm mesh size, towed from the bottom to specific depth intervals (surface, thermocline, and below thermocline) or throughout the entire water column, aboard the R/V Mare Nigrum. The samples were preserved in 10% formalin and subsequently processed in the NIRD GeoEcoMar laboratory, following the methodology outlined by Alexandrov et al. (2014). Taxonomic identification was performed to the lowest possible taxonomic level.Individual and total abundances (ind.m³) and wet biomass estimates (mg.m³) were calculated according to Petipa et al. (1957) and Alexandrov et al. (2014).