Unstalked crinoids of the antarctic continental shelf, notes on their natural history and distribution

• Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1963
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1963.0009; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.1963.0009

An account is given of the natural history, distribution and relative abundance of the comatulids of the Antarctic continental shelf. On the whole they form a distinctive geographical assemblage, that, cut off from northern influence, has evidently evolved in isolation since at least from the beginning of the Pleistocene or Quaternary Period. Where large enough numbers have been encountered the distribution of six of the seventeen known shelf species has been shown to be circumpolar, and at least one of the six, the largest and most mobile, appears to have spread, or perhaps even now is spreading, northwards to lower latitudes via the submarine ridges that radiate outwards from Antarctica.