Understanding the impact of the environment on temporal trends in the composition and abundance of deep-sea species is essential for forecasting evolution of the community in the context of climate change. The recent development of deep-sea observatories enables multidisciplinary studies of long duration and high temporal resolution. We used a platform at the Ocean Networks Canada NEPTUNE Observatory located in the axis of Barkley Canyon between June 2012 and January 2015 to: (1) characterize the megabenthic community and the environmental conditions in the canyon; (2) investigate temporal patterns in the faunal community; and (3) determine the influence of environmental conditions on the observed patterns. The megafaunal epibenthic community, which included commercially important species, was composed of species known to be able to adapt to low oxygen conditions. A strong seasonal pattern characterized wind speed and direction, wave height, temperature, and chlorophyll concentration at the sea surface. The megafaunal epibenthic community exhibited seasonal patterns which were influenced by in-situ benthic boundary layer currents and temperature, weather conditions and chlorophyll concentration at the sea surface. At inter-annual scales, the surface temperature anomaly event observed in 2013 in the region could potentially impact the community structure with significant changes in species' densities, highlighting the need for longterm monitoring in the region. Highlights ► The benthic environment in the axis of Barkley Canyon (-985m) is stable on time scales > 1 d and < 3 y, and persistently hypoxic. ► The epibenthic megafaunal community is composed of species known to be adapted to low oxygen levels. ► Two major species of the community, C. tanneri and A. fimbria, are of fishery interest. ► Seasonal variations in the epibenthic megafaunal community on the axis of Barkley Canyon have been revealed. ► Inter-annual trends in abundance of major species of the community is linked with the surface temperature anomaly "the blob". Please note that this is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available on the publisher Web site.

Understanding the population dynamics of commercially fished deep-sea species, on seasonal to inter-annual scales, is of great importance in areas where fishing pressure is high. The remoteness of the deep-sea environment constitutes a challenge for monitoring these populations. The few studies that have investigated population structure of deep-sea species, have used trawls, a destructive approach for benthic ecosystems. The development of deep-sea observatories offers a continuous long-term presence on the seafloor. Using imagery from the Ocean Network Canada deep-sea observatory, video footage was acquired on a daily basis and analyzed to describe the population dynamics of the deep-sea crab Chionoecetes tanneri located in depths of 900-1000 m in Barkley Canyon, off Vancouver Island (BC, Canada). The objectives here were to describe the dynamics of the local population in relation to changes in environment and/or life-cycle related behaviors. Sampling sites were located along the canyon axis and on the canyon wall. Only juveniles (1-10 cm) were found at the axis site (1000 m depth) with densities varying from 0 to 144 individuals/m 2 . On the canyon wall (900 m depth), adults (>10 cm) were sporadically observed and densities were lower (max. 13 individuals/m 2 ). Variation in density between the two sites reflected the observed arrival of small individuals (<2.4 cm) at the axis site in summer and autumn. Apart from a distinct migration event in January 2015, intra-annual variability in density was higher than inter-annual variability as illustrated by significant annual and sub-annual cycles of 7.5 and 3.5 months. Our results confirmed the hypothesis of ontogenic migration and provide further insight into inter-molt periodicity; we demonstrated a duration of 16 months for one crab to grow from 1.8 cm to more than 5 cm. Our findings also show a correlation between population dynamics, chlorophyll concentration, surface wave height and wind speed, suggesting that surface blooms have a potential influence on the migration patterns of C. tanneri. Although our study was spatially limited (maximum surface 9 m), this innovative long-term study of a deep-sea crab demonstrates the potential of deep-sea observatories to enable research into the population dynamics of some deep-sea species.