20
R. E. DELL
teristic Antarctic benthic animals should now have a United States
base in Ellsworth Land bearing his name.
Bellingshausen's fine Russian expedition ( 181 9-21) circumnavigated
the Antarctic Continent, but again the major discoveries were geographical and because the account of the expedition appeared in Russian
the results were slow in percolating through to the rest of the world.
During the years 1839 and 1840 three different national expeditions
were in the Antarctic, and although they all had great potential for
collecting biological material, and although they all produced reports
on biological material, collected mostly outside the Antarctic, none of
them seems to have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the
Antarctic benthos.
Dumont D'Urville (1837-40) with the two corvettes Astrolabe and
La Z&e operated south of Cape Horn in 1838, and surveyed the South
Orkneys, the South Shetland5 and parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Bate (1862) described three species of amphipods collected at the
South Orkneys by La ZdZde. In 1840 D'Urville discovered Adelie Land
and was off the Wilkes Coast just a few hours after Charles Wilkes of the
United States Exploring Expedition.
The United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes
( 1838-42) with five ships again carried out geographical investigations
over a wide area of the Antarctic. Extensive biological results were
produced based on the collections made in the tropical Pacific and in the
Subantarctic but again no marine benthic animals appear to have been
recorded from the Antarctic.
Sir James Clark Ross (1839-41) with the Erebus and Terror especially equipped for magnetic observations, circumnavigated the Antarctic
Continent. His ships broke through the pack ice of the Ross Sea, thus
opening a gate through which many subsequent expeditions were to
work their way south to the Ross Sea and the Continent. Ross made
many geographical discoveries and confirmed the positions of many
other features. Thanks t o the presence on board of the botanist, J. D.
Hooker, this expedition laid the major framework for all subsequent
work on southern floras, particularly of the Subantarctic Islands.
Contributions to knowledge of Antarctic benthos appear to have been
rather minimal. Had the animals collected been recorded in a single
publication, the results of the Antarctic work might have had more
impact. It is, however, extremely difficult to track down papers based
on collections from the Erebus and Terror.
Ross (1847, vol. 1, p. 199) recorded that near 72'87'5, 176'6% on
18 January 1841 from 230 fm, " Small stones and shells, with some
pieces of coral and a crustaceous animal (Nymphn gracile), common in
R. E. DELL
teristic Antarctic benthic animals should now have a United States
base in Ellsworth Land bearing his name.
Bellingshausen's fine Russian expedition ( 181 9-21) circumnavigated
the Antarctic Continent, but again the major discoveries were geographical and because the account of the expedition appeared in Russian
the results were slow in percolating through to the rest of the world.
During the years 1839 and 1840 three different national expeditions
were in the Antarctic, and although they all had great potential for
collecting biological material, and although they all produced reports
on biological material, collected mostly outside the Antarctic, none of
them seems to have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the
Antarctic benthos.
Dumont D'Urville (1837-40) with the two corvettes Astrolabe and
La Z&e operated south of Cape Horn in 1838, and surveyed the South
Orkneys, the South Shetland5 and parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Bate (1862) described three species of amphipods collected at the
South Orkneys by La ZdZde. In 1840 D'Urville discovered Adelie Land
and was off the Wilkes Coast just a few hours after Charles Wilkes of the
United States Exploring Expedition.
The United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes
( 1838-42) with five ships again carried out geographical investigations
over a wide area of the Antarctic. Extensive biological results were
produced based on the collections made in the tropical Pacific and in the
Subantarctic but again no marine benthic animals appear to have been
recorded from the Antarctic.
Sir James Clark Ross (1839-41) with the Erebus and Terror especially equipped for magnetic observations, circumnavigated the Antarctic
Continent. His ships broke through the pack ice of the Ross Sea, thus
opening a gate through which many subsequent expeditions were to
work their way south to the Ross Sea and the Continent. Ross made
many geographical discoveries and confirmed the positions of many
other features. Thanks t o the presence on board of the botanist, J. D.
Hooker, this expedition laid the major framework for all subsequent
work on southern floras, particularly of the Subantarctic Islands.
Contributions to knowledge of Antarctic benthos appear to have been
rather minimal. Had the animals collected been recorded in a single
publication, the results of the Antarctic work might have had more
impact. It is, however, extremely difficult to track down papers based
on collections from the Erebus and Terror.
Ross (1847, vol. 1, p. 199) recorded that near 72'87'5, 176'6% on
18 January 1841 from 230 fm, " Small stones and shells, with some
pieces of coral and a crustaceous animal (Nymphn gracile), common in