Irish scientist among contributors to new atlas of Antarctic marine life

More than 9,000 species from tiny microbes to penguins to large whales have been recorded in a new atlas of Antarctic marine life, with an Irish scientist among its 147 authors.

Dr Louise Allcock of NUI Galway's Ryan Institute contributed to an "unprecedented" international collaboration published today.

The Southern Ocean waters to the west of the Antarctic peninsula are warming faster than almost any other place on Earth, and the new atlas of the region will inform knowledge on climate change.

It examines evolution, physical environment, genetics and possible impact of higher sea temperatures on the conservation of Antarctic marine life.

"This is the first time that all the records of the unique Antarctic marine biodiversity, from the very beginnings of Antarctic exploration in the days of Captain Cook, have been compiled, analysed and mapped by the scientific community," the atlas's chief editor, Claude De Broyer of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Scientists, says. Dr Allcock says the project emanated from the Census of Marine Life, the 10-year inventory of some 30 million records involving 2,700 scientists from 80 countries.

Discovered

She discovered 10 new species in the Southern Ocean while studying for a PhD, including an octopus named after her son –

Pareledone felix

. Her expertise is in octopi and in “bipolar” species, organisms that live at both poles.

“We know that whales and seabirds swim and fly to both poles, but the copepods or tiny crustacea which can be found in both locations are most interesting,” she says. “We have found that they travel in deepwater currents.”

The atlas authors note that new advances in genetics have shed light on some of the best known species from the Antarctic sea floor, including the giant isopod crustacean Glyptonotus antarcticus.

It lives on the edge of the continent at depths of up to 600 metres, and was previously considered to be a single species with a circumpolar distribution. However, it is now thought to be among 11 of its type. The Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean includes 800 maps and 100 colour photos and it is a "must read for anyone interested in the animals living at the end of the Earth", according to its editor Huw Griffiths, who works with the British Antarctic Survey.