In 1986 and 1987 a transect off SW Åland, N Baltic Sea was sampled for macrozoobenthos at 14 stations ranging from 1 to 226 m depth. In connection to this survey comparative samples were taken at a "standard depth" of 19-20 m at 2 additional stations to estimate variability in space and time. The data were analyzed for primary community parameters (i.e. no. of species, abundance and biomass) including spatial and temporal differences, and the information is evaluated in relation to topography and hydrography. A more detailed analysis using the dominant components of the zoobenthic communities illustrated some of the difficulties in monitoring of the marine zoobenthos. There were significant differences in abundances and biomasses even over short distances. The differences get even more pronounced when trying to relocate an exact station with another boat and using different grab types on the same station. This is exemplified by samples from a 19-meter station using a modified Olausen box corer and an Ekman-Birge type grab sampling on different days from different vessels; the primary community data obtained with both grabs was 10 vs. 10 species (with Pontoporeia affinis vs. Macoma balthica dominating), 1945 ± 529 vs. 2168 ± 385 ind/m2, and 21.6 ± 9.5 vs. 209.0 ± 45.3 g/m2, respectively. Similarily, samplings at stations less than 1 n. mile apart at 20 m depth using the Ekman-Birge grab yielded 2168 ± 385 and 7000 ± 607 ind/m2; a highly significant difference. The no. of species (10/13) and biomasses (209.0 ± 45.3/184 ± 89.0 g/m2) showed no significant differences. The data also showed some depth dependency, but there was no correlation (r=0.22) between abundance and biomass for the entire material pooled, illustrating the importance of always measuring both. When using keyspecies for monitoring purposes, their natural distribution should also be known, as the dominance-patterns shows clear gradients with depth and sediment type
