<jats:p>A dense assemblage of the brachiopod <jats:italic>Magellania fragilis</jats:italic> was sampled by trawl and underwater photography during the expedition ANT IX/3 (1991) of RV ‘Polarstern’ on the shelf of the Lazarev Sea, Antarctica. Mean abundance and biomass estimates for <jats:italic>M. fragilis</jats:italic> were 26.15 individuals m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> and 1.13 g AFDM m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>, respectively. Growth bands visible on the shell were interpreted as annual growth marks caused by the strong seasonality of food input to the benthos and were treated as size-at-age data. The von Bertalanffy growth function L<jats:sub>t</jats:sub> (mm) = 51.67 (1 - e<jats:sup>0020 (t +1.326))3.828</jats:sup> described these data best. The annual somatic <jats:italic>P/B</jats:italic> ratio was very low, 0.046 y<jats:sup>1</jats:sup>, and annual production amounted to 0.052 g AFDM m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> y<jats:sup>1</jats:sup> at this particular site. These results indicate that <jats:italic>M. fragilis</jats:italic> is a comparatively slow-growing species with very low annual productivity.</jats:p>