Demersal fish parasite fauna around the South Shetland Islands: high species richness and low host specificity in deep Antarctic waters

The aim of this work is to redescribe 11 species of sponges collected through the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR), at the South Shetland Islands and vicinity. New information is provided on the Antarctic sponge fauna, in regard to species richness and the geographical and bathymetric distributions of identified species. The following species were identified and are here illustrated and fully described: Cinachyra antarctica (Carter, 1872), Cinachyra barbata Sollas, 1886, Craniella leptoderma (Sollas, 1886), Tethyopsis longispinum (Lendenfeld, 1907), Polymastia invaginata Kirkpatrick, 1907, Homaxinella balfourensis (Ridley & Dendy, 1886), Suberites montiniger Carter, 1880, Halichondria (Eumastia) attenuata (Topsent, 1915), Haliclona (Soestella) chilensis (Thiele, 1905), Hemigellius bidens (Topsent, 1901) and Calyx arcuarius (Topsent, 1913). Two new records are given for the Antarctic continent: Halichondria (Eumastia) attenuata (Topsent, 1915) and Haliclona (Soestella) chilensis (Thiele, 1905). Tethyopsis longispinum (Lendenfeld, 1907), Suberites montiniger Carter, 1880 and Hemigellius bidens (Topsent, 1901) represent the first records for this sector of the continent. Bathymetric data are extended for T. longispinum and H. attenuata.

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Epiphytic diatom community structure and richness is determined by macroalgal host and location in the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica)

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0250629 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. e0250629

Author(s):

Andrea M. Burfeid-Castellanos ◽

Rafael P. Martín-Martín ◽

Michael Kloster ◽

Carlos Angulo-Preckler ◽

Conxita Avila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Species Richness ◽

Primary Production ◽

Image Annotation ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

Ecological Niches ◽

Deception Island ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Livingston Island

The marine waters around the South Shetland Islands are paramount in the primary production of this Antarctic ecosystem. With the increasing effects of climate change and the annual retreat of the ice shelf, the importance of macroalgae and their diatom epiphytes in primary production also increases. The relationships and interactions between these organisms have scarcely been studied in Antarctica, and even less in the volcanic ecosystem of Deception Island, which can be seen as a natural proxy of climate change in Antarctica because of its vulcanism, and the open marine system of Livingston Island. In this study we investigated the composition of the diatom communities in the context of their macroalgal hosts and different environmental factors. We used a non-acidic method for diatom digestion, followed by slidescanning and diatom identification by manual annotation through a web-browser-based image annotation platform. Epiphytic diatom species richness was higher on Deception Island as a whole, whereas individual macroalgal specimens harboured richer diatom assemblages on Livingston Island. We hypothesize this a possible result of a higher diversity of ecological niches in the unique volcanic environment of Deception Island. Overall, our study revealed higher species richness and diversity than previous studies of macroalgae-inhabiting diatoms in Antarctica, which could however be the result of the different preparation methodologies used in the different studies, rather than an indication of a higher species richness on Deception Island and Livingston Island than other Antarctic localities.

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Chr. Christensen and C. A. Larsen: A comparative analysis of two whaling entrepreneurs

International Journal of Maritime History ◽

10.1177/0843871418822436 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 81-97

Author(s):

Bjørn L. Basberg

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Antarctic Waters ◽

Floating Factory ◽

Shore Station ◽

Close Cooperation ◽

Organizational Patterns ◽

Factory Ship

Chr. Christensen and C. A. Larsen are usually considered among the most important pioneers in the transfer of whaling to Antarctic waters in the early twentieth century. After a period of close cooperation during the 1890s, they took different courses and built up their Antarctic enterprises independently of each other. While Larsen initiated the foundation of shore station whaling at South Georgia, Christensen sent a floating factory ship to the South Shetland Islands. The main aim of the paper is to make a systematic comparison of the two entrepreneurs and their companies, and focus explicitly on the considerations and decisions they made when whaling was transferred from north to south. They obviously chose different strategies, but we will ask how different they really were in their thinking about how southern whaling was going to develop. Both entrepreneurs brought along their experiences from how whaling had been undertaken in the northern waters. It was not obvious what organizational patterns would work in the south, and we shall study how familiar and new ways of organizing the industry were combined – as is often the case in entrepreneurial innovations.

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New M40Ar/39Ar and K/Ar Ages of Dikes in the South Shetland Islands (Antarctic Peninsula)

Open-File Report ◽

10.3133/ofr20071047srp035 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

S. Kraus ◽

M. McWilliams ◽

Z. Pecskay

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands

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The summer diet of demersal fish at the South Shetland Islands

Antarctic Science ◽

10.1017/s0954102097000527 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 407-413 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Masanori Takahashi ◽

Tetsuo Iwami

Keyword(s):

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Stomach Contents ◽

Demersal Fish ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

Fish Prey ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Antarctic Marine ◽

Dietary Component ◽

Gobionotothen Gibberifrons ◽

The Antarctic

The stomach contents of demersal fish in late January 1982 were analysed. Samples were taken at 100, 300 and 500 m depth south of Elephant Island, Bransfield Strait and north of Livingston Island, and at 800 m to the east of Smith Island. Fifty four taxa of fish belonging to 11 families were collected. The diets of 2101 fish representing 38 taxa were examined. These were classified into three categories, fish feeders, krill feeders and benthos feeders. Fish prey species fed on krill and/or benthos. Krill was a major dietary component for 32 (84.2%) out of 38 taxa. Gobionotothen gibberifrons was distributed at all 10 stations (100–800 m in depth) and its diet comprised krill and benthos. The present findings verify the importance of krill in the Antarctic marine ecosystem and indicate that krill is consumed by benthic fish at greater depths than previously reported.

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