Marine Aquarium -British Antarctic Survey (BAS)-

One of the most impressive experiences of this summer was that of having live Antarctic brittle stars in my hands – and I took that unique opportunity to identify them. Where? In the Marine Aquarium of British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge).

Different aquariums with various zoological groups carefully selected according to their way of life: cnidarians, teleosts, pycnogonids or echinoderms live in marine aquariums situated in a cold room, specially designed to shelter the animals at Antarctic waters temperature.



Sandy Cordiner-Lawrie, Marine Aquarium Manager of Biological Sciences Division (BAS), combining professionalism and affection takes daily care of the fragile marine creatures caught selectively by scuba-divers in Rothera Research Station (Adelaide Island, Antarctida).Among her numerous responsibilities there are those of control of the physico-chemical parameters of the water and maintaining it clean, feeding the animals etc.


Different studies are being carried out, from metabolic routes to growth physiology, and the isolation of the specimens is often needed.



There was a really interesting phenomenon – an “echinoderm swarm”, some kind of caotic concentration of the animals on the wall of one of the tanks, while the rest of the tank was almost empty. It seemed that sea urchins, starfishes (the predator Labidiaster !) and sea cucumbers were desperately seeking a refuge among themselves.

Thank you, Sandy!

September 2010

Roofs and eyeglasses in Antarctic ophiuroids

In 1961 Fell, in his monograph on the Ross Sea Ophiuroidea, drew attention to the development of skeletal excrecence in Antarctic ophiuroids from Euvondrea and Ophiosteira genera. Fell found no explaination for these outgrowths.

These expansions, especially in the dorsal arm plates, can also be seen in other Antarctic species such as Ophiura (Ophiuroglypha) carinifera, Anophiura banzarei, Ophiomages cristatus, Ophiomastus bispinosus and some species of Ophioplinthus genus.

Ignoring the mere evolutionary whim, there could be various interpretations. For example, passive defense: the protrusive elements could dissuade the predators which would prefer something easier to chew and swallow. Or, acting as peaked roofs somewhere in Siberia or Pirinei Mountains –  little flat surface on aboral part protects them from heavy “snowfalls” and, so, doesn’t let them be buried in funds with a high degree of sedimentation. Or, the explanation could be the possible presence of amplifier lenses for photoreception (see symmetrical structures as honeycomb cells of Ophiosteira).

At any rate, nature manifests its spectacularity through the tiniest details of organisms which did not evolve to amaze us, nonetheless, we can’t help being marvelled at them.

November 2011