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Antarctic Zooplankton

View the videos below to better appreciate the wild beauty of some of the many species of zooplankton collected and studied by VIMS scientists involved in the NSF-funded Palmer Antarctica Long-Term Ecological Research program (PAL-LTER).

Limacina rangii

Pteropods (the “P” is silent) are free-swimming snails common in ocean waters around Antarctica. {em}Limacina rangii{/em} (formerly {em}Limacina helicina antarctica{/em}) is a shelled pteropod. Pteropod in Greek means 'winged-foot' hence the common name for {em}L. rangii{/em} is sea butterfly.

Clione antarctica

{em}Clione antarctica{/em} is a predatory pteropod that has completely lost its shell. In an astonishing evolutionary twist, its main prey is the shelled pteropod {em}Limacina rangii{/em}. {em}C. antarctica{/em} uses its radula—a “tongue with teeth”— to grab and extract the tissues from inside {em}L. rangii{/em}’s shell.

Alciopid Worm

This Alciopid is one of the few worms that spends its entire life cycle in the open ocean. This specimen was collected from Antarctic waters by PAL-LTER researchers from the R/V Laurence M. Gould.

Polychaete Worm

PAL-LTER researchers collected this unidentified deep sea polychaete and copepod at 1000 meters depth using a MOCNESS net.

Tomopteris

Tomopteris is one of the few worms that spends its entire life cycle in the open ocean. This specimen was collected from Antarctic waters by PAL-LTER researchers from the R/V Laurence M. Gould.

Ice Squid

This paralarval "ice squid," {em}Psychroteuthis glacialis{/em}, was collected from the waters of the Southern Ocean along the West Antarctic Peninsula by scientists with the Palmer Long-term Ecological Research program.

Larval Ice Fish

This larval icefish (Family Channichthyidae) was collected by PAL-LTER scientists from the R/V Laurence M. Gould along the West Antarctic Peninsula.