The Joint Chilean-German-Italian Magellan "Victor Hensen" Campaign in Oct./Nov. 1994 and the "Polarstern" expedition ANT XIII/4 (May 1996) yielded 207 quantiative multibox corer samples from 11 stations in the Paso Ancho (Magellan Straits), 10 stations in the Beagle Channel, and 15 stations of the shelf and continental slope off the eastern entrance of the Beagle Channel. Mean abundance values in the Magellan Region varied from 1591 ind m-2 in the Paso Ancho to 3643 ind m-2 in the Beagle Channel and 3983 ind m-2 on the shelf; the corresponding biomass valueswere 96.8 g, 301.6 g, and 119.0 g wet weight m-2, respectively. In terms of org. Cthe corresponding values are 4.8, 11.4, and 4.6 g m-2. Abundance (3806 ind m-2) and biomass (222.6 g wet weight m-2 or 7.3 g org C) data from the eastern Weddell Sea shelf (" Polarstern" expeditions ANT VI/3, 1987/88 and ANT VII/4, 1989) are in the same range.The composition of the fauna, however, reveals distinct differences.