ANTAEUYTIC BENTHOS
35
limits of the depth range of Cyclammina orbicularis and Cribrostomoides
subglobosum (Sam), and the upper limit of abundance of Glomospira
icharoides is reached, and Karreriella puailla, Reophax spiculifer and
Hemisphaerammina depressa (Heron-Allen and Earland) reach their
lower limits.
At 2 200 m the upper depth limit of Ammomarginula ensis Wiesner,
and the upper limits of abundance of Haplophragmoides rotulatum
(Brady ) are reached, while Hyperammina novaezealandia, a species of
Rhabdammina, Reophax SUbfUSifOrmiS Earland, Bathysiphon discreta
(Brady), Miliammina arenacea (Chapman) and Reophax subdentaliniformis Parr reach their lower limit. Boundaries were postulated at
475 m (McKnight) andat 515 and 1 134 m (Pflum), so that there appears
to be a degree of agreement between these different workers.
The number of species of Foraminifera recorded from different
collections have been: 40 species from one Challenger Station a t
65'42'5 in 3 063 m (Brady, 1884) ; 216 species from the shelf and slope
and 52 others in adjacent deep water basins from material collected
by the German South Polar Expedition (analysis by Earland, 1935
based upon the report by Wiesner, 1931); 83 species from the Antarctic
area especially the Weddell Sea (Pearcey, 1914) ; 342 species from the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Chapman and Parr, 1937) ; 196
species and varieties from the B.A.N.Z.A.R. expedition (Parr, 1950).
McKnight (1962) identified 133 species classified in 67 genera from 28
Antarctic cores, while Kennett (1968) identified 102 genera and 210
species from the Ross Sea.
McKnight (1962) recorded that many of the 67 genera he recorded
were believed to be confined to the Antarctic but no recent biogeographical account has come to notice. McKnight has recorded benthonic
assemblages from the Ross Sea, the Weddell Sea, Queen Maud Land
with a few records from the Palmer Peninsula. Other records are
available for other areas, but some critical systematics w i l l surely be
needed before comparisons can reasonably be made.
B. Porifera
It has been claimed that the abundance of sponges in the Antarctic
makes the present as much the Age of Sponges as was the Cretaceous
(Burton, 1932). Practically every biologist who has worked in the
Antarctic has commented on the number of sponges, their size and the
part played in the fauna by the glassy sponges.
The Erst scientific records were published by Carter (1872, 1875,
1877) who in 1872 described Tethya antarctica and Rossella antarctica
from material collected in the Ross Sea by the Erebus and Terror, the
35
limits of the depth range of Cyclammina orbicularis and Cribrostomoides
subglobosum (Sam), and the upper limit of abundance of Glomospira
icharoides is reached, and Karreriella puailla, Reophax spiculifer and
Hemisphaerammina depressa (Heron-Allen and Earland) reach their
lower limits.
At 2 200 m the upper depth limit of Ammomarginula ensis Wiesner,
and the upper limits of abundance of Haplophragmoides rotulatum
(Brady ) are reached, while Hyperammina novaezealandia, a species of
Rhabdammina, Reophax SUbfUSifOrmiS Earland, Bathysiphon discreta
(Brady), Miliammina arenacea (Chapman) and Reophax subdentaliniformis Parr reach their lower limit. Boundaries were postulated at
475 m (McKnight) andat 515 and 1 134 m (Pflum), so that there appears
to be a degree of agreement between these different workers.
The number of species of Foraminifera recorded from different
collections have been: 40 species from one Challenger Station a t
65'42'5 in 3 063 m (Brady, 1884) ; 216 species from the shelf and slope
and 52 others in adjacent deep water basins from material collected
by the German South Polar Expedition (analysis by Earland, 1935
based upon the report by Wiesner, 1931); 83 species from the Antarctic
area especially the Weddell Sea (Pearcey, 1914) ; 342 species from the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Chapman and Parr, 1937) ; 196
species and varieties from the B.A.N.Z.A.R. expedition (Parr, 1950).
McKnight (1962) identified 133 species classified in 67 genera from 28
Antarctic cores, while Kennett (1968) identified 102 genera and 210
species from the Ross Sea.
McKnight (1962) recorded that many of the 67 genera he recorded
were believed to be confined to the Antarctic but no recent biogeographical account has come to notice. McKnight has recorded benthonic
assemblages from the Ross Sea, the Weddell Sea, Queen Maud Land
with a few records from the Palmer Peninsula. Other records are
available for other areas, but some critical systematics w i l l surely be
needed before comparisons can reasonably be made.
B. Porifera
It has been claimed that the abundance of sponges in the Antarctic
makes the present as much the Age of Sponges as was the Cretaceous
(Burton, 1932). Practically every biologist who has worked in the
Antarctic has commented on the number of sponges, their size and the
part played in the fauna by the glassy sponges.
The Erst scientific records were published by Carter (1872, 1875,
1877) who in 1872 described Tethya antarctica and Rossella antarctica
from material collected in the Ross Sea by the Erebus and Terror, the