Antarctic Brimming With New Species

Sun Herald

Sunday May 20, 2007

Daniel Dasey

THE vast, deep seas surrounding Antarctica are teeming with hundreds of species unknown to science, says a study.

Sponges, some of which are carnivorous, swimming worms, sea cucumbers, crustaceans, and molluscs living in the Weddell Sea will help provide insight into the evolution of ocean life.

Among them are 674 species of isopod crustaceans - 585 of them new to science. The remarkable finds reveal much more variety than expected in this cold and largely unstudied place, challenging the common assumption that deep sea diversity is depressed in high latitudes or polar areas.

Angelika Brandt, the lead author of the paper in the journal Nature, said: "The Antarctic deep sea is potentially the cradle of life of the global marine species.

"Our research results challenge suggestions that the deep sea diversity in the Southern Ocean is poor.

"We now have a better understanding in the evolution of the marine species and how they can adapt to changes in climate and environments."

Among the wonders of the deep are predatory sponges that eat copepods, little crustaceans. The sponges "are really nasty, though small", said Professor Brandt, from the University of Hamburg.

© 2007 Sun Herald

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