ANTARCTIC BENTHOS
49
No nematodes had previously been recorded from the Antarctic
Peninsula. Allgen recorded 45 species, 24 of them also known from
South Georgia and 25 from the Falklands, 10 from other localities in
the Southern Hemisphere and 11 from the Atlantic coasts of Europe.
No detailed comparisons have as yet been made between the
nematodes of East and West Antarctica. Mawson (1956) recorded 36
species from East Antarctica, of which 27 species and one genus were
described as new. I n a further paper Mawson (1958) recorded another
24 species including some from Australasian Antarctic Expedition
material, 10 of the species being described as new.
F . Nemertea
Nemerteans (or ribbon worms) are not well documented for the
Antarctic. For proper systematic work well relaxed specimens, specially
collected and carefully preserved are required. Even in trawls and
dredges specimens often fragment before they reach the biologist. In
the " heroic " age of biological collecting it was often impossible to
give this group the patience and special attention they require (even if
some biologists still doubt if they deserve it). One species above all
others has been brought to the attention of practically every expedition
that has worked in Antarctic waters, Lineus corrugatus McIntosh.
Because it is abundant and widely distributed with a marked necrophagous habit, it has been commonly caught in baited traps and on
fishing lines. Joubin (1905) redescribed this species under the name
Cerebratulus charcoti Joubin, and described and figured a large hook
baited with seal meat found in the interior of one preserved specimen.
Arnaud (1970, p. 260) recorded that 130 individuals were taken by
traps in Adelie Land, 39 individuals in one single trap at once and 27
new individuals in the same trap 24 h later. Arnaud also records one
individual whose body had split in three places through ingesting a
piece of meat weighing 56 g and another distended by a piece of meat
weighing 61 g and measuring 9 x 3 x 1.5 cm, this in a species normally about 120 cm long but only 2 cm in diameter. An underwater
photograph taken off Ross Island and published by Peckham (1964)
gives some idea of the abundance of this species.
Dawson (1969, p. 20) lists 29 benthic species from the Antarctic (in
the sense it is used in the present publication). This includes seven
species found in South Georgia (six of them endemic to South Georgia,
one found also in the Falklands). Several species are known to have a
circumpolar distribution around the Continent, e.g. Linew corrugatus,
L. longijissus (Hubrecht), Antarctonemertes validum Burger, Baseodiscus
49
No nematodes had previously been recorded from the Antarctic
Peninsula. Allgen recorded 45 species, 24 of them also known from
South Georgia and 25 from the Falklands, 10 from other localities in
the Southern Hemisphere and 11 from the Atlantic coasts of Europe.
No detailed comparisons have as yet been made between the
nematodes of East and West Antarctica. Mawson (1956) recorded 36
species from East Antarctica, of which 27 species and one genus were
described as new. I n a further paper Mawson (1958) recorded another
24 species including some from Australasian Antarctic Expedition
material, 10 of the species being described as new.
F . Nemertea
Nemerteans (or ribbon worms) are not well documented for the
Antarctic. For proper systematic work well relaxed specimens, specially
collected and carefully preserved are required. Even in trawls and
dredges specimens often fragment before they reach the biologist. In
the " heroic " age of biological collecting it was often impossible to
give this group the patience and special attention they require (even if
some biologists still doubt if they deserve it). One species above all
others has been brought to the attention of practically every expedition
that has worked in Antarctic waters, Lineus corrugatus McIntosh.
Because it is abundant and widely distributed with a marked necrophagous habit, it has been commonly caught in baited traps and on
fishing lines. Joubin (1905) redescribed this species under the name
Cerebratulus charcoti Joubin, and described and figured a large hook
baited with seal meat found in the interior of one preserved specimen.
Arnaud (1970, p. 260) recorded that 130 individuals were taken by
traps in Adelie Land, 39 individuals in one single trap at once and 27
new individuals in the same trap 24 h later. Arnaud also records one
individual whose body had split in three places through ingesting a
piece of meat weighing 56 g and another distended by a piece of meat
weighing 61 g and measuring 9 x 3 x 1.5 cm, this in a species normally about 120 cm long but only 2 cm in diameter. An underwater
photograph taken off Ross Island and published by Peckham (1964)
gives some idea of the abundance of this species.
Dawson (1969, p. 20) lists 29 benthic species from the Antarctic (in
the sense it is used in the present publication). This includes seven
species found in South Georgia (six of them endemic to South Georgia,
one found also in the Falklands). Several species are known to have a
circumpolar distribution around the Continent, e.g. Linew corrugatus,
L. longijissus (Hubrecht), Antarctonemertes validum Burger, Baseodiscus