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In June 1995 and 1996 demersal fishes on the continental slepe of the eastem Norwegian Sea were sampled to study distribution pattems and community structure. The diets of the more abundant slepe species were characterised and linkages within the upper slepe food-web identified.Few cases of predator-prey relationships between the typical slepe fishes were found. Most of the smaller fishes fed on epibenthic crustaceans such as amphipods and mysids, while pelagic crustaceans and fish dominated the diets of larger fishes. Herring ( Clupea harengus) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) were important prey items of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), and were also eaten by Lycodesfrigidus, Raja hyperborea and roughhead grenadier (Macrourus berglax). At !east for the latter three species this probably reflected scavenging.

A specimen of the little gulper shark Centrophorus uyato was collected in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of northern Norway, marking the northernmost record of the species in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Morphological characteristics collected from the specimen indicate a close relationship to the Australian species Centrophorus zeehaani. DNA barcoding analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (coI) gene for species of Centrophorus suggests conspecificity of C. uyato and C. zeehaani.

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The myctophid <em>Diaphus rafinesquii</em> is endemic in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean and was for the first time found in the Norwegian Sea. The specimen was captured off northern Norway at about 71° N, representing the northernmost record so far. Meristic and morphometric comparisons showed no evident differences to specimens found in other areas of its distribution. Although the actual abundance and distribution of this species in Norwegian waters remained unclear, we emphasized the general high potential of mesopelagic species for indicating environmental short- and long-time changes by monitoring the faunal change