Abundant Antarctic Biodiversity

It may seem like a cold, desolate place, but the Antarctic is actually teeming with life. Sure, there are no large terrestrial animals and only two flowering plants, but they represent such a miniscule slice of life on Earth! Two papers, published today, report on the high diversity of the region and why it’s essential that we protect it.

The first article, published in Nature, analyzes several previous studies to establish an enormous list of the abundant biodiversity in Antarctica beyond the charismatic penguins and marine mammals: 8,000 marine species, including 674 isopods, hexacorals, echinoderms (such as sea stars), sea slugs, sponges, mollusks, tube worms, sea spiders, barnacles, and other crustaceans. On land, there are hundreds of lichens, over 100 mosses, tardigrades, nematodes, springtails, and mites. Plus the countless microbiota that exist in the soils, ice, lakes, and sea surrounding the continent!

One of the Antarctic crustaceans the Nature study mentions is a new species of yeti crab, whose description is also published today in PLoS ONE. Yeti crabs are extreme animals, thriving in very hot hydrothermal vents at very high densities—often exceeding 700 individuals in one square meter! Named after the mythical Yeti, its body is densely covered by bristles, known as setae, and bacteria, giving it a fur-like outer appearance.

The new species is trapped within the warm water environment of the vent chimney and is unable move between vent sites due to the nearly freezing water in between. Only females carrying eggs move away from vent chimneys and into the surrounding polar deep sea to release their larvae. The larvae are unable to survive the warmer temperatures of the adult habitat.

“The species has adapted to this very limited sized habitat… by occurring in highly-packed densities and by relying on bacteria they grow on their fur-like setae for nutrition,” says lead author Sven Thatje.

“Life in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean is surprisingly rich, and as much at risk from environmental change as it is elsewhere,” the authors write in the Nature paper. Global climate change and local pressures such as fishing and tourism threaten the region. Our limited conservation efforts need to expand, and the researchers hope that understanding more about the extent of the biodiversity in the region could support more stringent conservation endeavors into the future.

Yeti crab images: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127621.g004