Atlas of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Brachiopoda

Abstract

The specific diversity of Brachiopoda is proposed for the first time in an atlas of the Southern Ocean with maps for each genus in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic zones. The three sub-phyla Linguliformea, Craniiformea and Rhynchonelliformea are represented: 51 species, belonging to 35 genera occur on a surface area covering about 20% of World Ocean. The low diversity is confirmed, as only 12.6% of the total number of extant species of brachiopods (402) and 29.4% of that of the genera (119). The absence of reliable diagnoses in most of the species makes difficult some comparisons and attributions. In the future several of these species and even genera could be considered as synonymous.