New Antarctic animal species discoveries

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This video says about itself:

Under the Antarctic Ice – Beauty of The Nature.

From Wildlife Extra:

A plethora of new species recovered from Amundsen Sea

December 2013: More than 30 new, and, as yet unclassified, species of marine life have been discovered during a science expedition to the Amundsen Sea off Pine Island Bay in Antarctica. The Amundsen Sea is one of the least explored areas of the Southern Ocean. It contains several deep troughs and basins formed during previous ice ages. Some are more than 1,600 metres deep.

During the months February to April, the scientists were able to navigate right up to the continental ice-shelf edge and carry out a number of trawls. A total of 5,469 specimens, from 275 species, were brought to the surface.

As well as the new species, some of those recovered had not been seen in Antarctic waters before. Echinoderms were the most abundant of these. This group includes starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Among the new species to Antarctica was a bathysciadiid limpet which was found feeding on the beak of a dead octopus.

Lead author, Katrin Linse, said: “Unlike many other seas around Antarctica, the Amundsen Sea shelf was not dominated by large sedentary sponges but instead by mobile echinoderms (starfish, urchins, brittlestars and sea cucumbers) and a community of similar animals which inhabit the on-shelf basins.

“The Amundsen Sea is an area of rapid change due to ice shelf breakup. Until now we knew nothing about the benthic fauna living here. Our recent study gives us a first insight into the biodiversity of this region and can serve as a baseline to observe future changes.”

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