IMIS - Marine Research Groups

Isopods are an important component of the Antarctic benthos and can be rich across depth and regions. A lack of dispersive larval stages makes them putatively very vulnerable to climate-induced changes and thus potentially an ideal model taxon for monitoring faunal shifts. In cooperation with TOTAL Foundation and SCAR-MarBIN, this data base is designed to collate distribution records of isopod crustaceans across the Southern Ocean and adjacent seas (S of 30°S) from the intertidal to hadal depths. Based on historical literature and benthic surveys the data base holds information nearly 900 isopod species in > 200 genera and 37 families from more than 3000 locations. More data are currently being added. Usually, UTM coordinates were entered (in meters); if not specified, stations were only included if a precise location (e.g. False Bay) was given. This data set presents one of the biggest isopod datasets for the Southern hemisphere (Antarctic, Sub-Antarctic, adjacent oceans S of 30°S: S.-Atlantic, S- Pacific, S. India). It consists of c. 4000 presence records (absence is not collected), collected from 1881 till 2011. The spatial coverage includes most of Antarctica. The actual database is a relational MS Access table, and the data exist in an OBIS/Darwin Core scheme of its columns.