Biodiversity Data Journal : Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Data Paper (Biosciences)
Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)
expand article infoValentina Cometti‡,§, Matteo Cecchetto|,§, Alice Guzzi|,§,, Marco Grillo‡,§, Nicholas Francesco Noli‡,§, Simonetta Corsolini‡,#, Stefano Schiaparelli|,§,
‡ Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
§ Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa), Genoa, Italy
| Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
¶ National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
# Institute of Polar Sciences, Italian National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Bologna, Italy
Corresponding author: Valentina Cometti (v.cometti@student.unisi.it)
Academic editor: Anton P. van de Putte
Received: 05 Feb 2025 | Accepted: 03 Apr 2025 | Published: 08 Apr 2025
© 2025 Valentina Cometti, Matteo Cecchetto, Alice Guzzi, Marco Grillo, Nicholas Noli, Simonetta Corsolini, Stefano Schiaparelli
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Cometti V, Cecchetto M, Guzzi A, Grillo M, Noli N, Corsolini S, Schiaparelli S (2025) Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e148863. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e148863
 Open Access

Abstract

Background

Benthic communities studies in the Southern Ocean highlight their potential for assessing climate and anthropogenic impacts. However, the lack of standardised methods limits result reliability and interpretation. This dataset presents the first checklist focus on the Antarctic pioneer benthic communities collected using a standardised approach such as Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) located at 25 m depth in the surroundings of the Italian research station "Mario Zucchelli" (MZS) in the Terra Nova Bay (TNB) area of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The data encompass ARMS time series corresponding to deployments of 1, 2, 3 and 5 years, from which 277 occurrence data corresponding to 12 phyla, 43 families, 49 genera and 39 species were obtained. All retrieved specimens are curated by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa). This dataset is a contribution to the Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, the thematic Antarctic node for both the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (AntOBIS) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility (ANTABIF). The dataset was uploaded and integrated with the SCAR-AntOBIS database under the licence CC-BY 4.0. Please follow the guidelines from the SCAR Data Policy (ISSN 1998-0337) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via data-biodiversity-aq@naturalsciences.be. Issues with the dataset can be reported at the biodiversity-aq GitHub project.

New information

We describe the biodiversity of the Antarctic pioneer benthic communities of TNB sampled using the ARMS installed at the Italian research station "Mario Zucchelli". ARMS is a standardised, reproducible and comparable method for quantifying biodiversity. This dataset provides essential baseline data on the occurrence and abundance of pioneer benthic communities in this study area, representing an important contribution for understanding the dynamics of benthic pioneer communities in an area where these structures have never been deployed and, in general, for an exposure time that largely exceed the standard one, which is usually of one year only.

The 277 occurrences reported here have been classified at the lowest possible taxonomic level and comprise 39 recognised species, 49 genera and 43 families. Approximately 98% of the samples are stored in 96% ethanol, while the others at -20°C, representing a potential resource for future genetic studies. To date, the entire ARMS collection has not been DNA barcoded, although preliminary metabarcoding analyses have already been published in Cecchetto et al. (2024). Outcomes of the barcoding activity will be the target of another future publication (Cometti et al., in prep). The publication of this data paper was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution to the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (bio diversity.aq).

Keywords

distributional occurrences, check-list, time series, ARMS, Southern Ocean, Ross Sea, Terra Nova Bay, Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA), biodiversity

Introduction

The Southern Ocean has unique environmental conditions compared to other areas of the Planet and is characterised by a high degree of endemism (De Broyer et al. 2014), high levels of cryptic diversity at the species level (Wilson et al. 2009, Maroni and Wilson 2022, Maroni et al. 2022) and a Palaeozoic functional grade of organisation (Aronson and Blake 2001). To date, the available data on the development and dynamics of benthic communities have shown interesting potential for understanding the impacts of anthropogenic and climate change on them, showing changes at both community and species levels (Barnes et al. 2021).

Antarctic hard substrates fouling communities of Terra Nova Bay (TNB) were initially studied during the expeditions 1987-88, 1989-90 and 1993-94, conducted by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) (Cattaneo-Vietti et al. 2000). During the same period, other areas of the continent, such as McMurdo Sound (Ross Sea), were investigated (e.g. Dayton (1989)).

Since these initial studies, there have been no new attempts to study pioneer benthic communities until recently, when new investigations into the colonisation of artificial substrates (e.g. Bowden et al. (2006), Dayton et al. (2016), Caruso (2019), Barnes et al. (2021)) and natural substrates (e.g. Barnes and Souster (2011), Fillinger et al. (2013), Barnes et al. (2014), Krzeminska and Kuklinski (2018)) were undertaken. To date, the data show a very critical and slow growth rate (Peck 2018) and reveal the presence of various taxa including Porifera, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, Chordata, Algae (Arntz and Gallardo 1994, Bowden et al. 2006) and bacterial communities (Caruso et al. (2023), Papale et al. (2024)).

However, these studies have never employed reproducible and standardised techniques, limiting both the reliability of the results and the broader understanding of observed changes. A standardised approach is essential to ensure the replicability of analyses, a key feature of biological monitoring at regional and global scales.

This feature is provided by the Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), designed by Leray and Knowlton (2015). The ARMS units, part of the Global ARMS Programme, consists of ten 22.5 × 22.5-cm PVC plates stacked on top of each other, simulating a complex 3D environment. Furthermore, these structures present alternating layers of crevices open and closed to the flow of the current. ARMS provide a quantitative, reproducible, standardised and cost-effective method that enables reliable comparisons across studies (Leray and Knowlton 2015, David et al. 2019, Pearman et al. 2020).

The simplified design of these structures provides an easily quantifiable sampling methodology that, combined with the study of fouling organisms with High Throughput Sequencing (HTS), became a standard in monitoring activities at sea (Valentini et al. 2016) allowing communities to be inspected in different time intervals and environmental conditions (Cecchetto et al. 2024). ARMS are a powerful tool to obtain information on the likely resilience of the benthic fauna in relation to possible changes and to significantly improve the accuracy and feasibility of monitoring efforts (Fonseca et al. 2017), especially in the Ross Sea, where they have never been adopted.

This dataset presents the first checklist of pioneer benthic organisms in TNB, which have never been studied using these structures and over such a long monitoring time. Previous MNA contributions focused on Mollusca, Tanaidacea, Fungi, Ophiuroidea, Porifera, Bryozoa, Rotifera, Asteroidea, Copepoda and Isopoda (Ghiglione et al. 2013, Piazza et al. 2014, Selbmann et al. 2015, Cecchetto et al. 2017, Ghiglione et al. 2018, Garlasché et al. 2019, Cecchetto et al. 2019, Bonello et al. 2020, Guzzi et al. 2022, Grillo et al. 2024, Noli et al. 2024).

The special issue that included this publication contains additional articles that centre on specific marine animals, such as Holothurians (Guzzi et al., in prep), Amphipods (Cecchetto et al., in prep) and fish (La Mesa et al., in prep). This dataset also represents another Italian contribution to the CCAMLR CONSERVATION MEASURE 91-05 (2016) for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area, specifically addressing Annex 91-05/C (“long-term monitoring of benthic ecosystem functions”).

Project description

Title: 

Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)

Personnel: 

Valentina Cometti, Matteo Cecchetto, Alice Guzzi, Marco Grillo, Nicholas Francesco Noli, Simonetta Corsolini, Stefano Schiaparelli

Study area description: 

The occurrence data of the pioneer benthic communities studied in this data paper derives from the XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXVII and XXXVIII Expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Program (PNRA). Samples were collected from ARMS located at a depth of 25 m at the ‘Zecca’ site in Tethys Bay (-74.690°, 164.103°), approximately 500 mfrom the Mario Zucchelli Station (Fig. 1), in the TNB area. The sampling period spanned from 1 December 2015 to 8 November 2022. The seabed surrounding the ARMS consists of heterogeneous, unsorted sediments including sand, gravel and small cobbles mainly colonised by Corallinales. The area is characterised by a high abundance of Sterechinus neumayeri (Meissner, 1900) and Odontaster validus Koehler, 1906 (Piazza et al. 2019, Piazza et al. 2020), which were frequently observed at the same site during the retrieval of the structures.

Figure 1.  

Overview of Antarctica (A) and in zoomed view of Tethys Bay (within Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea) (B).

Funding: 

Data originated in the framework of six different PNRA (Italian National Antarctic Program) expeditions carried out from 2015 to 2022. The deployment, recovery and analyses of the ARMS deployed in TNB were funded by the Italian National Antarctic Program (PNRA) projects:

  • “TNB-CODE - Terra Nova Bay barCODing and mEtabarcoding of Antarctic organisms from marine and limno-terrestrial environments” (Project code 2016/AZ1.17; PI Prof. Schiaparelli S.).
  • “RosS-MODe – Ross Sea biodiversity Monitoring through barcoding, metabarcODing and e-DNA” (Project code PNRA18_00078, PI Prof. Ficetola F.).

The publication of this data paper was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the Framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution to the SCAR Antarctic biodiversity portal.

Sampling methods

Sampling description: 

Samples were collected using ARMS (Fig. 2). Each ARMS consists of 10 PVC plates (22.5 x 22.5 x 0.5 cm) stacked one top of each other and separated by 1 cm nylon spacers at the corners of each plate, into which four stainless steel bolts are threaded, holding the entire structure together. This is then fixed on top of a large 45 x 35 cm PVC base plate, which allows the whole structure to be anchored to the seafloor. ARMS have been recovered thanks to the help of PNRA SCUBA divers, which covered each retrieved structure with a rigid plastic crate perforated on each side and internally lined with a 100 μm nylon net, in order to avoid the escape of vagile benthic organisms. Other details available at Global ARMS Program site.

Figure 2.  

Photo extracted from underwater video showing an ARMS deployed in the sampling area (A). The structure was recovered during the XXXVII PNRA expedition in 2021 (after 5 years of colonisation). After recovery, photographs were taken of the PVC panels. In detail, we see panel number 7 facing downwards (B) and panel number 5 facing upwards (C).

ARMS were deployed at sea for varying time ranges of 1, 2, 3 and 5 years. These six structures were recovered in different years: 2 in 2016 (1 year later), 2 in 2017 (2 years later), 2 in 2018 (3 years later). Additionally, one pair of ARMS was installed in 2016 and recovered in 2021 (5 years later) and another additional pair of ARMS was installed in 2017 and recovered in 2022 (5 years later).

Quality control: 

All records were visually checked, identified at the lowest possible taxonomic level, validated and assigned an MNA voucher. Throughout all phases, quality control and data cleaning ensured high-quality data and reliable identifications. Throughout sorting, classification and storage at the MNA, quality control and data cleaning ensured high-quality data and reliable identifications. Coordinates were converted into decimal latitude and decimal longitude and plotted to verify the geographical location and locality. All scientific names were inspected for typos and were updated using the “WoRMS Taxon match” tool of the “World Register of Marine Species” (WoRMS) and AphiaID was assigned to each taxon as scientificNameID. The event dates and times were converted into ISO 8601 and verified with the field reports.

Step description: 

The structures deployed in 2015 and recovered in 2016 (1 year), 2017 (2 years) and 2018 (3 years) were stored entirely at -20°C to be transported to Italy, where they were disassembled and analysed. After retrieval, each individual plate was appropriately photographed, from both sides, scraped and homogenised to form sub-samples that were subsequently stored in ethanol at -20°C. However, during the recovery of the first pair of structures (2016) and one of the second (2017), these crates malfunctioned and, thus, no quantitative analyses on the vagile component of the community inhabiting the ARMS could be performed. For the fifth-year structures, one pair deployed in 2016 and recovered in 2021 and the other pair deployed in 2017 and recovered in 2022, processing took place directly in Antarctica. The samples were sorted, acquired by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section Genoa) and directly stored in ethanol (96%) or at -20°C to be identified later. Most of the records were identified by one researcher, using original descriptions and taxonomic keys and the online WoRMS portal to confirm the acceptance of species names. The identification was often supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), combining stack images of the analysed specimens, particularly for the bryozoan specimens (Fig. 3). High-resolution SEM images were taken, focusing on diagnostic traits such as details of the primary orifice, ovicell morphology and other morphological characteristics. The light and contrast parameters were carefully adjusted to enhance specimen features, ensuring clarity for accurate identification. For bryozoan, a small portion of the colony of less than 1 cm was taken and treated with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for 10 minutes and washed with ethanol (EtOH) at different concentrations 70%, 90% and 100%. When identification was inconclusive, only genus or family names were assigned. The samples were deposited in the biological collection of the MNA. All data were uploaded to the GBIF portal.

Figure 3.  

Sample of Camptoplites tricornis (Waters, 1904) (MNA-13822 voucher number) on PVC plate (Fig. 3A) identified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In detail, avicularia (Fig. 2B) and autozooid with spines (Fig. 2C). The sample is part of the material collected during the XXXIV PNRA Expedition (2018/2019).

Geographic coverage

Description: 

Samples were collected at one location, nominally "Zecca", from the Tethys Bay area. The sampling site is approximately 500 m distant from the MZS in TNB (Ross Sea, Antarctica) and at 25 m of depth (Fig. 1).

Coordinates of the deployment site: -74.690 Latitude, 164.104 Longitude

Taxonomic coverage

Description: 

This dataset focuses on pioneer benthic taxa collected using ARMS. A total of 277 occurrences were recorded, with the largest proportions in 2022 (30.68%) and 2018 (29.97%), followed by 2021 (27.07%) and 2017 (9.75%). The smallest percentage was in 2016, accounting for only 2.53% of the total occurrences (Fig. 4).

Figure 4.  

Occurrence percentages over the years from 2016 to 2022.

After analysing the complete dataset of 277 occurrences, 43 families, 49 genera and 39 species were identified, along with 31 morphotypes. However, some taxa could not be identified to the species level and this uncertainty was indicated by 'sp.' or 'cf.' identification qualifiers in the dataset (Fig. 5). Futhermore, six specimens from the order Amphipoda were excluded from this dataset, as they are already listed in the checklist by Cecchetto et al. (in prep).

Figure 5.  

Number of records identified at the phylum, family, genus and species level, for each specific taxa.

Of the 277 occurrences, 154 are sessile and 123 are vagile species.

Annelida is the most abundant phylum (73 occurrences), followed by Bryozoa (70 occurrences). While Echinodermata (45 occurrences) and Mollusca (29 occurrences) are also notable, they have fewer records compared to the top two phyla. Other phyla, such as Chordata and Porifera, have significantly fewer records (respectively 11 and 5), with the number of records gradually decreasing towards the least represented phyla.

The most representative families in the dataset are Polynoidae (30 occurrences), Echinidae (23 occurrences) and Serpulidae (22 occurrences). Amongst these, the most abundant genera were Harmothoe Kinberg, 1856 (27 occurrences) (POLYCHAETA, Polynoidae) and Sterechinus Koehler, 1901 (23 occurrences) (ECHINOIDEA, Echinidae). The species with the highest number of occurrences was Sterechinus neumayeri (Meissner, 1900), recorded 22 times.

After analysing the life stages of the specimens, a total of 277 occurrences were recorded, comprising 272 adults, three juveniles (corresponding to Lanicides bilobata (Grube, 1877) and two speciments of Adamussium colbecki (E.A. Smith, 1902)) and two egg masses (Neobuccinum eatoni (E.A. Smith, 1875)).

Species with the symbol (*) in the following table indicate that they are new records for the TNB area. All the records recorded in this dataset are based on physical museum vouchers (hereafter “MNA collection records”) curated by the Genoa section of the MNA.

Taxa included:
Rank Scientific Name
kingdom Animalia
kingdom Chromista
kingdom Plantae
phylum Annelida
phylum Arthropoda
phylum Bryozoa
phylum Cercozoa
phylum Chordata
phylum Cnidaria
phylum Echinodermata
phylum Heterokontophyta
phylum Mollusca
phylum Nemertea
phylum Porifera
phylum Rhodophyta
class Ascidiacea
class Asteroidea
class Bacillariophyceae
class Bivalvia
class Demospongiae
class Echinoidea
class Gastropoda
class Gromiidea
class Gymnolaemata
class Hexacorallia
class Hydrozoa
class Malacostraca
class Octocorallia
class Ophiuroidea
class Ostracoda
class Polychaeta
class Pycnogonida
class Stenolaemata
order Actiniaria
order Amphipoda
order Anthoathecata
order Arcida
order Camarodonta
order Cheilostomatida
order Ctenostomatida
order Cyclostomatida
order Forcipulatida
order Gromiida
order Haplosclerida
order Isopoda
order Littorinimorpha
order Malacalcyonacea
order Mysida
order Neogastropoda
order Ophiurida
order Pantopoda
order Pectinida
order Phlebobranchia
order Phyllodocida
order Podocopida
order Poecilosclerida
order Sabellida
order Stolidobranchia
order Suberitida
order Tanaidacea
order Terebellida
order Trochida
order Valvatida
family Alcyonidiidae
family Alcyoniidae
family Amphilochoidae
family Arachnopusiidae
family Ascidiidae
family Asteriidae
family Beaniidae
family Bugulidae
family Calliopiidae
family Calliostomatidae
family Capulidae
family Celleporidae
family Chalinidae
family Clavulariidae
family Crisiidae
family Echinidae
family Eudendriidae
family Gromiidae
family Janiridae
family Laternulidae
family Lichenoporidae
family Microporidae
family Munnidae
family Mysidae
family Myxillidae
family Nototanaidae
family Odontasteridae
family Ophiopyrgidae
family Orbiniidae
family Pectinidae
family Philobryidae
family Philoporidae
family Polynoidae
family Prosiphonidae
family Rissoidae
family Romancheinidae
family Serpulidae
family Spirorbidae
family Styelidae
family Suberitidae
family Terebellidae
family Tubuliporidae
family Xestoleberididae
genus Adamussium Thiele, 1934
genus Alcyonidium Lamouroux, 1813
genus Alcyonium Linnaeus, 1758
genus Antarcticaetos Hayward & Thorpe, 1988
genus Arachnopusia Jullien, 1888
genus Ascidia Linnaeus, 1767
genus Austrofilius Hodgson, 1910
genus Barrukia Bergström, 1916
genus Beania Johnston, 1840
genus Camptoplites Harmer, 1923
genus Clavularia Blainville, 1830
genus Cnemidocarpa Huntsman, 1913
genus Crisia Lamouroux, 1812
genus Cryocapulus Schiaparelli, Bouchet, Fassio & Oliverio, 2020
genus Diplasterias Perrier, 1891
genus Disporella Gray, 1848
genus Eucranta Malmgren, 1865
genus Eudendrium Ehrenberg, 1834
genus Exidmonea David, Mongereau & Pouyet, 1972
genus Favosthimosia Hayward & Winston, 2011
genus Filicrisia d'Orbigny, 1853
genus Gitanopsilis Rauschert, 1994
genus Gromia Dujardin, 1835
genus Haliclona Grant, 1841
genus Harmothoe Kinberg, 1856
genus Helicosiphon Gravier, 1907
genus Homaxinella Topsent, 1916
genus Klugeflustra Moyano, 1972
genus Lanicides Hessle, 1917
genus Laternula Röding, 1798
genus Leodamas Kinberg, 1866
genus Margarella Thiele, 1893
genus Micropora Gray, 1848
genus Munna Krøyer, 1839
genus Mysidetes Holt & Tattersall, 1906
genus Neobuccinum E. A. Smith, 1879
genus Nototanais Richardson, 1906
genus Odontaster Verrill, 1880
genus Ophioplinthus Lyman, 1878
genus Oradarea Walker, 1903
genus Philobrya J. G. Cooper, 1867
genus Powellisetia Ponder, 1965
genus Reteporella Busk, 1884
genus Serpula Linnaeus, 1758
genus Spirorbis Daudin, 1800
genus Stelodoryx Topsent, 1904
genus Sterechinus Koehler, 1901
genus Subonoba Iredale, 1915
genus Xestoleberis Sars, 1866
species Adamussium colbecki (E. A. Smith, 1902)
species Alcyonium antarcticum Wright & Studer, 1889
species Alcyonium cf. antarticum Wright & Studer, 1889
species Antarcticaetos bubeccata (Rogick, 1955)
species Arachnopusia decipiens Hayward & Thorpe, 1988
species Arachnopusia cf. decipiens Hayward & Thorpe, 1988
species Austrofilius furcatus Hodgson, 1910
species Barrukia cf. cristata (Willey, 1902)
species Beania erecta Waters, 1904
species Camptoplites bicornis (Busk, 1884)
species Camptoplites tricornis (Waters, 1904)
species Clavularia frankliniana Roule, 1902
species Clavularia cf. frankliniana Roule, 1902
species Cnemidocarpa verrucosa (Lesson, 1830)
species Cnemidocarpa cf. verrucosa (Lesson, 1830)
species Cryocapulus subcompressus (Pelseneer, 1903)
species Diplasterias brucei (Koehler, 1907)
species Eudendrium scotti Puce, Cerrano & Bavestrello, 2002
species Favosthimosia milleporoides (Calvet, 1909)
species Gitanopsilis amissio Rauschert, 1994*
species Gromia cf. melinus Rothe, Gooday, Cedhagen, Fahrni, Hughes, Page, Pearce & Pawlowski, 2009
species Harmothoe cf. exanthema (Grube, 1856)
species Harmothoe cf. spinosa Kinberg, 1856
species Harmothoe antarctica (McIntosh, 1885)
species Harmothoe crosetensis (McIntosh, 1885)
species Harmothoe cf. crosetensis (McIntosh, 1885)
species Harmothoe fuligineum (Baird, 1865)
species Harmothoe cf. fuligineum (Baird, 1865)
species Harmothoe fullo (Grube, 1878)
species Homaxinella balfourensis (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)
species Xestoleberis cf. meridionalis Müller, 1908
species Klugeflustra cf. vanhoeffeni (Kluge, 1914)
species Lanicides bilobata (Grube, 1877)
species Laternula elliptica (P. P. King, 1832)
species Leodamas marginatus (Ehlers, 1897)
species Margarella crebrilirulata (E. A. Smith, 1907)
species Margarella refulgens (E. A. Smith, 1907)
species Micropora cf. notialis Hayward & Ryland, 1993
species Munna antarctica (Pfeffer, 1887)
species Mysidetes illigi Zimmer, 1914*
species Neobuccinum eatoni (E. A. Smith, 1875)
species Nototanais antarcticus (Hodgson, 1902)
species Nototanais dimorphus (Beddard, 1886)
species Odontaster roseus Janosik & Halanych, 2010
species Odontaster validus Koehler, 1906
species Ophioplinthus gelida (Koehler, 1901)
species Oradarea acuminata Thurston, 1974
species Philobrya sublaevis Pelseneer, 1903
species Powellisetia deserta (E. A. Smith, 1907)
species Stelodoryx cribrigera (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)*
species Sterechinus neumayeri (Meissner, 1900)
species Subonoba gelida (E. A. Smith, 1907)

Temporal coverage

Data range: 
2015-12-01 - 2022-11-08.

Collection data

Collection name: 
MNA – Biological Collections
Collection identifier: 
https://www.gbif.org/grscicoll/collection/a57a1dc1-706c-42db-bbad-1e68d9685439
Parent collection identifier: 
Italian National Antarctic Museum (section of Genoa)
Specimen preservation method: 
Specimens in 96% ethanol, slides with whole or dissected organisms (fixed in glycerol), part of organisms preserved in dry for SEM and frozen at -20°C.

Usage licence

Usage licence: 
Other
IP rights notes: 

The dataset was published under the licence CC-BY 4.0.

Data resources

Data package title: 
Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)
Resource link: 
https://doi.org/10.15468/4c7zf8
Alternative identifiers: 
https://www.gbif.org/dataset/f024a3d3-7bb2-4985-be57-d890936769ff
Number of data sets: 
1
Data set name: 
Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)
Data format: 
Darwin Core
Description: 

The dataset comprises a total of 277 distributional records, each one corresponding to a voucher specimen stored at the MNA, Section Genoa (Cometti et al. 2024). These records originate from ARMS, at varying time ranges of 1, 2, 3 and 5 years in Tethys Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica). The occurrences presented in this dataset represent an important contribution as a baseline of the taxonomic composition of pioneer benthic communities in the Ross Sea and it will be useful to study their future dynamics.

Column label Column description
occurrenceID A global unique identifier for the occurrence.
institutionCode The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
institutionID An identifier for the institution having custody of the objects or information referred to in the record.
collectionCode The acronym identifying the collection or dataset from which the record was derived.
collectionID An identifier for the dataset from which the record was derived.
catalogNumber An identifier of any form assigned by the source within a physical collection or digital dataset for the record which may not be unique, but should be fairly unique in combination with the institution and collection code.
basisOfRecord The specific nature of the data record (Preserved Specimen).
type The genre of the resource (PhysicalObject).
scientificName The full scientific name, with authorship and date information, if known.
taxonRank The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.
kingdom The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the taxon is classified.
phylum The full scientific name of the phylum in which the taxon is classified.
class The full scientific name of the class in which the taxon is classified.
order The full scientific name of the order in which the taxon is classified.
family The full scientific name of the family in which the taxon is classified.
genus The full scientific name of the genus in which the taxon is classified.
specificEpithet The name of the first or species epithet of the scientificName.
scientificNameAuthorship The authorship information for the scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the applicable.
identificationQualifier A controlled value to express the determiner's doubts about the Identification (sp. cf).
scientificNameID An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name.
individualCount The number of individuals present at the time of the Occurrence.
lifeStage The life stage of organisms. In detail, juveniles and eggs.
occurrenceRemarks Antarctic Expeditions in which the organisms were sampled.
eventDate The date-time or interval during which an Event occurred.
sampleSizeValue A numerical value indicating the time of colonisation.
sampleSizeUnit The unit of measurement of the time duration. This term must have a corresponding to sampleSizeValue.
eventID A global unique identifier for the set of information associated with an Event.
decimalLatitude The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum).
decimalLongitude The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum).
geodeticDatum The spatial reference system (WGS84) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude are based.
minimumDepthInMetres Minimum sampling depth during event in metres.
maximumDepthInMetres Maximum sampling depth during event in metres.
coordinatePrecision A decimal representation of the precision of the coordinates given in the decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude.
samplingProtocol Gear used to collect specimens and relative DOI of manuscript in which the sampling method is described.
dynamicProperties Concatenation of information, specifically: Movement (sessile, vagile), PVC plate number (lowest = 1 to highest = 10) and plate orientation (T = top, B = bottom).
preparations Description of the tissue or the voucher specimen and preservation method.
occurrenceStatus Statement about the presence or absence of a specimen.
locality The specific description of the place.
continent Continent where the organisms were sampled.
countryCode The standard code for the country where the organisms were sampled.
recordedBy Surname and name of the personnel who collected the samples.
recordedByID ORCID of the personnel who collected the samples.
identifiedBy Surname and name of the personnel who analysed and recognised the single species.
identifiedByID ORCID of the personnel who analysed and recognised the single species.

Acknowledgements

This paper is an Italian National Antarctic Programme (PNRA) contribution to the SCAR-ANTOS Expert Group and to the CCAMLR CONSERVATION MEASURE 91-05 (2016) for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area, specifically, addressing Annex 91-05/C (‘long-term monitoring of benthic ecosystem functions’). We are grateful to Blanca Figuerola and Paul D. Taylor for the valuable help to identify some Bryozoa’s samples, Giorgio Bavestrello to identify some sample of Hydrozoa and Marco Bertolino to identify some samples of Porifera. The publication of this data paper was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the Framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution to the SCAR Antarctic biodiveristy portal (biodiversity.aq). The authors are also immensely grateful to Dr. Anton Van De Putte and Dr. Yi Ming Gan, who provided much appreciated advice and help on the metadata standards and Darwin core archive format during the quality control of the dataset.

Author contributions

VC compiled and edited the dataset and wrote the original manuscript. VC, MC, AG, MG and NN identified and counted the specimens, compiled and edited the dataset, provided funding, lab equipment and reviewed the manuscript and SC wrote, reviewed and edited. SS provided funding, resources, specimens and lab equipment, supervised the project and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

References

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