Although faunal variability could be related to sediment granulometry and depth, all stations to the south and east of the Archipelago lay within the broadly defined central Barents Sea community. In this community, (alfa-diversity was variable and sampled between 77 and 337 m showed no clear relationship to depth. Diversity in the area close to the polar front was notably high, rarefaction predicting that 43 ± 5.5 species might occur in a sample of 201 individuals. k-Dominance plots suggested that muddy sand communities around Sval- bard were no less diverse than similar assemblages in the North Sea.