This dataset is a document describing the Chaetognaths of the Southern Ocean. The synonymy, diagnostic characters, geographical and bathymetric distribution of each species is given together with an illustration of body, head and a seminal vesicle, and a distribution map. The document is available for download as a pdf from the provided URL.

This dataset is a document describing the Decapoda of the Southern Ocean. It lists all the known species and with illustrated diagrams provides a guide to their taxonomic identification. The document is available for download as a pdf from the provided URL.

Zooplankton were collected with a Rectangular Midwater Trawl (RMT 8+1 net) from 37 sampling sites on and near the Southern Kerguelen Plateau. The contents of each net were preserved in 5% buffered formaldehyde. This dataset covers the counts of the contents of the RMT8 net and includes the abundances for the euphausiid Thysanoessa macrura and the salp Salpa thompsoni. The contents were identified and counted under a Leica M165C stereo-microscope. A flow meter attached to the mouth of the RMT 8 was used to record the volume of seawater passing through the net. The count for Thysanoessa macrura includes the total of all developmental stages. For the salps abundances are shown for the 2 developmental phases - solitary individuals and aggregates.

This dataset is a document describing the Pelagic Tunicates of the Southern Ocean. It lists all the known Southern Ocean species and with illustrated diagrams provides a guide to their taxonomic identification. The document is available for download as a pdf from the provided URL.

This dataset is a document describing the Scyphomedusae of the Southern Ocean. It lists all the known species and with illustrated diagrams provides a guide to their taxonomic identification. Distribution maps are given for each species. The document is available for download as a pdf from the provided URL.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 257 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of some of the referenced papers: Anatomical and physiological studies of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), particularly in the post-natal period, raise questions of relative musculature growth, control of metabolism, circulation and temperature regulation, which could be important in our understanding of these processes in mammals and of their contribution to adaptation to environmental extremes. The diving behaviour of 14 adult southern elephant seals was investigated using time depth recorders. Each of the seals performed some dives that were longer than its theoretical aerobic dive limit. Forty-four percent of all dives made by post-moult females exceeded the calculated limit compared with 7% of those made by postbreeding females and less than 1% of those made by adult males. The extended dives displayed characteristics that suggested they were predominantly foraging dives, although some were apparently rest dives. Dives longer than the calculated aerobic limits often occurred in bouts; the longest consisted of 63 consecutive dives and lasted 2 days. Postmoult females performed longer bouts of extended dives than postbreeding females. Extended surface periods (longer than 30 min) were not related to the occurrence of extended dives or bouts of extended dives. The possible physiological mechanisms that permit such prolonged continuous dives are discussed. Southern elephant seals may increase the aerobic capacity of dives by lowering their metabolism to approximately 40% of the resting metabolic rate on long dives. There is substantial interseal variability in the methods used to cope with long dives. Some animals appear to use phsyiological strategies that allow them to prolong the time available to them at the bottom of a dive, while others use alternative strategies that may limit the time available at the bottom of their dives. Fourteen time-depth-temperature recorders were recovered from adult southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) returning to Macqaurie Island to breed or moult. The resulting temperature/depth profiles indicated that all four males spent most of their time in waters lying over the Antarctic Continental Shelf, whereas only one of the ten females spent any time there. Five of the females foraged just off the Antarctic Continental Shelf, and the other five remained near the Antarctic Polar Front. 1) Mark-resight data were analysed for thirteen cohorts from a declining population of southern elephant seals branded at Macquarie Island between 1951 and 1965. 2) First year survival was essential stable during the 1950s at about 46% for females and 42% for males. There was a dramatic fall in first year survival during the 1960s, declinging to less than 2% for both sexes in 1965. Post-year-1 survival did not change between the 1950s and the 1960s. 3) Comparisons with a stable population of southern elephant seals at South Georgia indicated that both first year and adult survival were lower in the Macquarie Island population. There were no changes in the age at first breeding of the Macquarie Island seals during the study, but this was on average 1 year later than at South Georgia. 4) It is hypothesised that the current decline in elephant seal numbers at several of their major breeding islands is due to the populations returning to pre-sealing levels after they had risen to abnormally high levels with the end of commercial exploitation early this century. 5) Possible tests of the hypothesis include studying the diet and foraging behaviour of southern elephant seals to gain an understanding of the predator-prey relationships, continuing to census the Macquarie Island population to determine if the population levels out at around the estimated pre-sealing levels, and monitoring northern elephant seal populations which were also severely exploited but are currently increasing

From the abstract of one of the papers: Three new zooplankton nets have been designed to enable improved collection of zooplankters from ice-covered waters. These nets also enable quantitative sampling of species not adequately sampled by other methods. The first net is a vertical tow net which can be folded like an umbrella to pass through a small ice hole (10 cm). This 'Umbrella Net' takes an integrated sample of zooplankton from all sample depths. The second net is a collapsible free-fall net designed to collect mobile zooplankters capable of avoiding towed nets. This was the only net used which was capable of collecting all furcilia stages of Euphausia crystallorophias from Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. The third net is a diver-operated push net designed to collect zooplankters in the top 15 cm of the under-ice column. Because of the high standing crop of pytoplankton at and near the under-ice surface at particular times of the year, some species of zooplankton tend to congregate there. These species, particularly Paralabidocera antarctica, were collected in great abundance using the push net, but were rare in samples collected by other methods. The fields in this dataset are: species species density site sample

Marine sediment meiofauna community composition and sediment environmental data collected in 2005 and published in Stark, J. S., M. Mohammad, A. McMinn, and J. Ingels. 2020. Diversity, abundance, spatial variation and human impacts in marine meiobenthic nematode and copepod communities at Casey station, East Antarctica. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:480. From the abstract: The composition, spatial structure, diversity and abundance of Antarctic nematode and copepod meiobenthic communities was examined in shallow (5 – 25 m) marine coastal sediments at Casey Station, East Antarctica. The sampling design incorporated spatial scales ranging from 10 meters to kilometres and included testing for human impacts by comparing disturbed (metal and hydrocarbon contaminated sediments adjacent to old waste disposal sites) and control areas. A total of 38 nematode genera and 20 copepod families were recorded with nematodes being dominant, comprising up to 95% of the total abundance. Variation was greatest at the largest scale (km’s) but each location had distinct assemblages. At smaller scales there were different patterns of variation for nematodes and copepods. There were significant differences between communities at control and disturbed locations. Community patterns had strong correlations with concentrations of anthropogenic metals in sediments as well as sediment grain size and total organic content. Given the strong association with environmental patterns, particularly anthropogenic disturbance, meiofauna may be seen as very useful indicators of natural and anthropogenic environmental changes in Antarctica. Methods derived from: Stark, J. S., M. Mohammad, A. McMinn, and J. Ingels. 2020. Diversity, abundance, spatial variation and human impacts in marine meiobenthic nematode and copepod communities at Casey station, East Antarctica. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:480. Sampling design Sampling was undertaken using a hierarchical, nested design with three spatial scales, Locations (separated by kms); within each location there were two sites (~ 100 m apart) and at each site there were two plots (~10m apart). Within each plot (1m diameter), two replicate cores were taken for meiofauna and two for environmental analysis, making a total of 8 meiofauna and 8 environmental cores per location, except at O’Brien Bay-5 where one meiofauna core was lost during sampling. Six locations were sampled around Casey Station. There were three control locations, two of which were within O’Brien Bay to the south of Casey (O’Brien Bay-1 (OB-1) and O’Brien Bay-5 (OB-5)); and one within Newcomb Bay, in McGrady Cove (Fig. 1). There were three locations adjacent to waste disposal sites: two locations were situated along a gradient of pollution within Brown Bay (Inner and Middle)(Stark et al. 2004, Stark 2008); and a third location was at Wilkes, adjacent to the abandoned waste disposal site at the derelict Wilkes station (Stark et al. 2003a), all within Newcomb Bay (Fig. 1). These waste disposal sites were used historically to dispose of all waste and rubbish generated on station and included used oil, building materials, electronics and batteries, food, clothing and chemicals (Snape et al. 2001, Stark et al. 2006). Both waste disposal sites are contaminated with metals and hydrocarbons above background levels (Stark et al. 2008, Stark et al. 2014b, Fryirs et al. 2015). Sample collection, meiofauna preparation and identification Sediment samples were collected by divers using modified 60 ml syringes with their intake end cut off to form a small core tube (28mm internal diameter). Cores were pushed into the sediment to a depth of 10 cm, extracted, and the bottom end was capped. In a few cases samples were only taken down to 5-7 cm, where sediments were less than 10 cm deep due to underlying rock. No sediments less than 5 cm deep were sampled. Cores were transported to Casey Station laboratories where they were emptied into sample jars and 4% formalin was added

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 38 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of the referenced papers: The origin of echinoderms from Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is analysed through a novel application of multivariate statistics. Ordinations are produced from a combination of species distribution, bathymetric, habitat and life history data in order to assess patterns of migration. The analyses distinguish groups of species derived from the Kerguelen Plateau, New Zealand and eastern Antarctica. These groups correlate with attributes expected for epiplanktonic dispersal and range expansion along the North and South Macquarie Ridges respectively. There is no convincing evidence for long-distance pelagic dispersal, migration from the abyssal plain or for human translocation of species. The results indicate that taxonomic groups differ in their ability to disperse, and emphasise the importance of depth in biogeographical analyses. Dispersal by range expansion appears to have been more significant than epiplanktonic dispersal and vicariant rather than long-distance dispersal mechanisms are the preferred explanation for some disjunct distribution patterns. Fifty two echinoderm species are recorded from off Macquarie Island and the Macquarie Ridge in the Southern Ocean. One new asteroid Odontohenricia anarea sp. nov. and one new holothurian Trachythyone nelladana sp. nov. are described. The asteroid genus Calvasterias is synonymised with Anasterias. The asteroids Cycethra macquariensis and Asterina hamiltoni are synonymised with Asterina frigida and placed in the same genus Cycethra. The asteroid Ceramaster lennoxkingi is synonymised with C. patagonicus, Solaster dianae with S. notophrynus, and Anasterias sphoerulatus with A. mawsoni. The asteroids Psilaster charcoti, Odontaster penicillatus, Ceramaster patagonicus, Crossaster multispinus, Solaster notophrynus, Pteraster affinis, Henricia studeri, the ophiuroid Ophioplocus incipiens, and the holothurians Paelopatides ovalis, Synallactes challengeri, Laetmogone sp, Taeniogyrus sp are recorded from the island for the first time. The following species previously recorded from Macquarie Island have been re-identified: the asteroids Odontaster auklandensis (=O. penicillatus), Henricia aucklandiae (=H. studeri), Henricia lukinsi (=H. obesa), Smilasterias irregularis (=S. clarkailsa), Anasterias antarctica (=A. directa), and the ophiuroid Ophiacantha pentagona (=O. vilis). The existence at Macquarie Island of the species Hymenaster sp, Goniocidaris umbraculum and Ocnus calcareus require confirmation. The asteroids Anasterias mawsoni, Pteraster affinis, Porania antarctica and Odonaster meridionalis are reported from the shore around Heard Island. The ecology and relationships of echinoderms from Macquarie Island are discussed.

This dataset is a description of the shallow coastal marine fauna found in the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Island area, Antarctica. The results are from various surveys in this region over a 12 month period in 1981-82, and a full listing of species (with photographs) is given in the documentation. It includes benthic, pelagic and planktonic organisms of the coast as well as those that inhabit the ice-water interface.