Italian National Antarctic Museum Research Articles

New distributional records of Southern Ocean Isopoda based on vouchers from the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa).

The order Isopoda Latreille, 1816 consists of species occurring in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments. In the Southern Ocean (SO), this group is amongst the most speciose and occur at all depths. Isopoda biogeography, despite being studied since the first Antarctic expeditions, is still poorly known from a geographical point of view and shows large occurrence gaps for some groups in specific sectors of the SO. In this paper, we update the isopod checklists of the Ross Sea (RS) and of some peri-Antarctic areas, such as the South Orkney Islands (SOI) and the South Sandwich Islands (SSI), based on the study of museum vouchers curated by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). A total of 279 MNA samples from 15 different expeditions were studied. From this material, consisting of 419 specimens, 41 accepted species distributed in 24 families and 51 genera were identified. Comparing this newly-obtained information with the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) and OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System) portal, 15 species are here reported for the first time in the Ross Sea, with five new records in the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area. All records are new for the Terra Nova Bay area, for which a checklist of this group has never been produced before.

Multi-gene phylogeny reveals a new genus and species of Hapalidiales (Rhodophyta) from Antarctica: Thalassolithon adeliense gen. & sp. nov.

ABSTRACT Non-geniculate coralline algal specimens were collected in 2013 during the XXVIII Italian Expedition to Antarctica in Adélie Cove (Terra Nova Bay; Ross Sea) and deposited in the collections of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNAIT, Section of Genoa). Specimens were characterized through a polyphasic approach combining DNA sequence data obtained for four genes (psbA, rbcL, 18S rDNA and cox1) with morpho-anatomical observations. DNA sequences revealed that all specimens belonged to the same species. Phylogenetic reconstructions unambiguously recovered this alga as a member of the order Hapalidiales, but without any close relationship to a genus of this order currently recognized on a molecular phylogenetic basis. Instead, it formed a well-supported lineage with specimens named ‘Hapalidiales sp. ZH-Twist-2019’, collected in New Zealand, for which no formal assignment at genus level has been proposed. Species delimitation methods (ABGD, PTP, GMYC) applied to the psbA dataset indicated that the Adélie Cove coralline alga is a distinct species from all other known hapalidialean species for which such sequences are available. A new genus, Thalassolithon gen. nov., is proposed for T. adeliense sp. nov.

Distributional records of Ross Sea (Antarctica) planktic Copepoda from bibliographic data and samples curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA): checklist of species collected in the Ross Sea sector from 1987 to 1995

Distributional data on planktic copepods (Crustacea, Copepoda) collected in the framework of the IIIrd, Vth, and Xth Expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Program (PNRA) to the Ross Sea sector from 1987 to 1995 are here provided. Sampling was performed with BIONESS and WP2 nets at 94 sampling stations at depths of 0–1,000 m, with a special focus on the Terra Nova Bay area. Altogether, this dataset comprises 6,027 distributional records, out of which 5,306 were obtained by digitizing original data reports and 721 are based on physical museum vouchers curated by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). The MNA samples include 8,224 individual specimens that were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. They belong to four orders, 25 families, 52 genera, and 82 morphological units (out of which 17 could be determined at the genus level only). A variety of environmental data were also recorded at each of the sampling stations, and we report original abundances (ind/m3) to enable future species distribution modelling. From a biogeographic point of view, the distributional data here reported represented new records for the Global Biogeographic Information Facility (GBIF) registry. In particular, 62% of the total number of species are new records for the Ross Sea sector and another 28% new records for the Antarctic region.

The Bryozoa collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum, with an updated checklist from Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea.

This study provides taxonomic and distributional data of bryozoan species from the Ross Sea area, mainly around Terra Nova Bay, based on specimens curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). Bryozoan specimens were collected at 75 different sampling stations in the Ross Sea and in the Magellan Strait, in a bathymetric range of 18–711 meters, during 13 expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) conducted between 1988 and 2014. A total of 282 MNA vouchers corresponding to 311 specimens and 127 morphospecies have been identified and included in the present dataset. 62% of the species were already reported for the Terra Nova Bay area, where most of the Italian samples come from, with a 35% of samples representing new records classified at the specific level, and 3% classified at the genus level. These new additions increase to 124 the total number of species known to occur in Terra Nova Bay. Four 3D-models of Antarctic bryozoans from the Ross Sea are also presented and will be released for research and educational purposes on the Museum website.

Porifera collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA), with an updated checklist from Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea).

This new dataset presents occurrence data for Porifera collected in the Ross Sea, mainly in the Terra Nova Bay area, and curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa). Specimens were collected in 331 different sampling stations at depths ranging from 17 to 1,100 meters in the framework of 17 different Italian Antarctic expeditions funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). A total of 807 specimens, belonging to 144 morphospecies (i.e., 95 taxa identified at species level and 49 classified at least at the genus level) is included in the dataset. Nearly half (45%) of the species reported here correspond to species already known for Terra Nova Bay. Out of the remaining 55% previously unknown records, under a third (~29%) were classified at the species level, while over a quarter (~26%) were ascribed to the genus level only and these would require further study. All vouchers are permanently curated at the MNA and are available for study to the scientific community. A 3D model of an uncommon species from the Ross Sea, i.e. Tethyopsisbrondstedi (Burton, 1929), is also presented and will be made available for outreach purposes.

Distributional records of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Ophiuroidea from samples curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA): check-list update of the group in the Terra Nova Bay area (Ross Sea) and launch of the MNA 3D model 'virtual gallery'.

The distributional records of Ophiuroidea stored at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa) are presented, corresponding to 1595 individuals that belong to 35 species and 17 genera. Specimens were collected in 106 different sampling stations at depths ranging from 21 to 1652 m in the framework of 14 Antarctic expeditions to the Ross Sea, one to the Antarctic Peninsula, and one to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Three species, Amphiura joubini Koehler, 1912, Amphiura (Amphiura) angularis Lyman, 1879, and Ophiura flexibilis (Koehler, 1911), are reported as new records for the Terra Nova Bay area, whose check-list of species increases from 15 to 18 species. The determination of these three new records was based both on morphological identification and molecular analyses (COI barcoding). Some of the genetically characterised specimens were also documented through photogrammetry and micro-computed tomography and represent the first bulk of 3D models that will be available through the MNA and Sketchfab websites, both for research and educational purposes.

Distributional records of Antarctic fungi based on strains preserved in the Culture Collection of Fungi from Extreme Environments (CCFEE) Mycological Section associated with the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA)

This dataset includes information regarding fungal strains collected during several Antarctic expeditions: the Italian National Antarctic Research program (PNRA) expeditions “X” (1994/1995), “XII” (1996/1997), “XVII” (2001/2002), “XIX” (2003/2004), “XXVI” (2010/2011), the Czech “IPY Expedition” (2007–2009) and a number of strains donated by E. Imre Friedmann (Florida State University) in Copyright Laura Selbmann et al. 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. MycoKeys 10: 57–71 (2015) doi: 10.3897/mycokeys.10.5343 http://mycokeys.pensoft.net A peer-reviewed open-access journal

Distributional records of Ross Sea (Antarctica) Tanaidacea from museum samples stored in the collections of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA) and the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

Here we present distributional records for Tanaidacea specimens collected during several Antarctic expeditions to the Ross Sea: the Italian PNRA expeditions (“V”, 1989/1990; “XI”, 1995/1996; “XIV”, 1998/1999; “XIX”, 2003/2004; “XXV”, 2009/2010) and the New Zealand historical (New Zealand Oceanographic Institute, NZOI, 1958-1961) and recent (“TAN0402 BIOROSS” voyage, 2004 and “TAN0802 IPY-CAML Oceans Survey 20/20” voyage, 2008) expeditions. Tanaidaceans were obtained from bottom samples collected at depths ranging from 16 to 3543 m by using a variety of sampling gears. On the whole, this contribution reports distributional data for a total of 2953 individuals belonging to 33 genera and 50 species. All vouchers are permanently stored in the Italian National Antarctic Museum collection (MNA), Section of Genoa (Italy) and at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA Invertebrate Collection), Wellington (New Zealand).

Ross Sea Mollusca from the Latitudinal Gradient Program: R/V Italica 2004 Rauschert dredge samples

Information regarding the molluscs in this dataset is based on the Rauschert dredge samples collected during the Latitudinal Gradient Program (LGP) on board the R/V “Italica” in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) in the austral summer 2004. A total of 18 epibenthic dredge deployments/samplings have been performed at four different locations at depths ranging from 84 to 515m by using a Rauschert dredge with a mesh size of 500μm. In total 8,359 specimens have been collected belonging to a total of 161 species. Considering this dataset in terms of occurrences, it corresponds to 505 discrete distributional records (incidence data). Of these, in order of abundance, 5,965 specimens were Gastropoda (accounting for 113 species), 1,323 were Bivalvia (accounting for 36 species), 949 were Aplacophora (accounting for 7 species), 74 specimens were Scaphopoda (3 species), 38 were Monoplacophora (1 species) and, finally, 10 specimens were Polyplacophora (1 species). This data set represents the first large-scale survey of benthic micro-molluscs for the area and provides important information about the distribution of several species, which have been seldom or never recorded before in the Ross Sea. All vouchers are permanently stored at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA), Section of Genoa, enabling future comparison and crosschecking. This material is also currently under study, from a molecular point of view, by the barcoding project “BAMBi” (PNRA 2010/A1.10).