All scientific data collected by the Australian Antarctic program (AAp) are eventually described in the Catalogue of Australian Antarctic and Subantarctic Metadata (CAASM). CAASM can be used to search through AAp data descriptions, and it also provides links to access publicly available datasets, which can either be immediately downloaded or obtained from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC).

Citation
Rigual-Hernandez, A.S., Armand, L.K., Trull, T.W., Bray, S.G., Wilks, J., Lawler, K. and Ballegeer, A. (2015) Diatom species of the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean, Ver. 1, Australian Antarctic Data Centre - doi:10.4225/15/5563CAA53B5E0, Accessed: 2026-06-27
Title
Diatom species of the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean
Data Centre
Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia
DOI
doi:10.4225/15/5563CAA53B5E0
Created Date
2015-05-25
Revision Date
2025-09-19
Expected Date of Data Release
2015-06-30
Data Version
1
Parent record
None

Description

The collection aims to showcase the range of Southern Ocean diatom species found in the major hydrological provinces of the Australian Sector of the Southern Ocean along the 140 degrees E. The collection includes specimens collected in the Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ), Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) and Antarctic Zone (AZ).

Samples were collected with McLane Parflux time series sediment traps placed at several depths in the SAZ (47 degrees S site), PFZ (54 degrees S site) and AZ and (61 degrees S site) during the decade 1997-2007. The shortest sampling intervals were eight days and corresponded with the austral summer and autumn, whereas the longest interval was 60 days and corresponded with austral winter. Split aliquots were obtained for taxonomic analysis via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For improved taxonomic imaging, samples were treated with hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide to remove carbonates and organic matter, respectively. A micropipette was used to transfer the suspension of selected samples to a round-glass cover slip following standard decantation method outlined by Barcena and Abrantes (1998). Samples were air-dried and coated with gold for SEM analysis. SEM analysis was carried out using a JEOL 6480LV scanning electron microscope.

Taxonomy

Diatoms include all algae from the Class Bacillariophyceae and follow the standardised taxonomy of World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Order Asterolamprales

Family Asterolampraceae
Asteromphalus hookeri Ehrenberg
Asteromphalus hyalinus Karsten

Order Achnanthales

Family Cocconeidaceae
Cocconeis sp.

Order Bacillariales

Family Bacillariaceae
Fragilariopsis curta (Van Heurck) Hustedt
Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Grunow) Krieger
Fragilariopsis kerguelensis (O'Meara) Hustedt
Fragilariopsis pseudonana (Hasle) Hasle
Fragilariopsis rhombica (O'Meara) Hustedt
Fragilariopsis separanda Hustedt
Nitzschia bicapitata Cleve
Nitzschia kolaczeckii Grunow
Nitzschia sicula (Castracane) Husted var. bicuneata (Grunow) Hasle
Nitzschia sicula (Castracane) Husted var. rostrata Hustedt
Pseudo-nitzschia heimii Manguin
Pseudo-nitzschia lineola (Cleve) Hasle
Pseudo-nitzschia turgiduloides Hasle

Order Chaetocerotanae incertae sedis

Family Chaetoceraceae
Chaetoceros aequatorialis var. antarcticus Cleve
Chaetoceros atlanticus Cleve
Chaetoceros dichaeta Ehrenberg
Chaetoceros peruvianus Brightwell
Chaetoceros sp.

Order Corethrales

Family Corethraceae
Corethron spp.

Order Coscinodiscales

Family Coscinodiscaceae
Stellarima stellaris (Roper) Hasle et Sims

Family Hemidiscaceae
Actinocyclus sp.
Azpeitia tabularis (Grunow) Fryxell et Sims
Hemidiscus cuneiformis Wallich
Roperia tesselata (Roper) Grunow

Order Hemiaulales

Family Hemiaulaceae
Eucampia antarctica (Castracane) Mangin

Order Naviculales

Family Plagiotropidaceae
Tropidoneis group

Family Naviculaceae
Navicula directa (Smith) Ralfs

Family Pleurosigmataceae
Pleurosigma sp.

Order Rhizosoleniales

Family Rhizosoleniaceae
Dactyliosolen antarcticus Castracane
Rhizosolenia antennata f. semispina Sundstrom
Rhizosolenia antennata (Ehrenberg) Brown f. antennata
Rhizosolenia cf. costata Gersonde
Rhizosolenia polydactyla Castracane f. polydactyla
Rhizosolenia simplex Karsten
Proboscia alata (Brightwell) Sundstrom
Proboscia inermis (Castracane) Jordan Ligowski

Order Thalassiosirales

Family Thalassiosiraceae
Porosira pseudodenticulata (Hustedt) Jouse
Thalassiosira ferelineata Hasle et Fryxell
Thalassiosira gracilis (Karsten) Hustedt
Thalassiosira lentiginosa (Janisch) Fryxell
Thalassiosira oestrupii (Ostenfeld) Hasle var. oestrupii Fryxell et Hasle
Thalassiosira oliveriana (O'Meara) Makarova et Nikolaev
Thalassiosira tumida (Janisch) Hasle

Order Thalassionematales

Family Thalassionemataceae
Thalassionema nitzschioides var. lanceolatum Grunow
Thalassiothrix antarctica Schimper ex Karsten


Data available: 73 SEM images of the most abundant diatom species found at the three sampling sites.

Samples were collected by several sediment traps placed at different depths in the Subantarctic Zone (47 degrees S site), Polar Frontal Zone (54 degrees S site) and Antarctic Zone (61 degrees S site) during the decade 1997-2007. The collection site and date for each species image can be found in Table 1 (see the word document in the download file).

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Quality

See the word document in the download file for further information.

Access

These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.

Temporal Coverages

Spatial Coverages

Science Keywords

Additional Keywords

  • Diatoms
  • Taxonomy
  • Sediment

Locations

  • CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA
  • OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN
  • GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Platforms

  • SHIPS
  • R/V Aurora Australis

Instruments

  • SEDIMENT TRAPS

Researchers

  • rigual-hernandez, andres (INVESTIGATOR,TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • armand, leanne (INVESTIGATOR,TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • trull, thomas (INVESTIGATOR,TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • bray, stephen (INVESTIGATOR,TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • wilks, jessica (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • lawler, kelly-anne (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • ballegeer, anne-marie (TECHNICAL CONTACT)
  • connell, dave (DIF AUTHOR)

Use Constraints

This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4078_Diatom_Images when using these data.

Project

    ISO Topic

    • BIOTA
    • OCEANS

    Dataset Language

    • English

    Orignating Centre

    • Australian Antarctic Division

    Dataset Progress

    • COMPLETE

    IDN Node

    • AMD/AU
    • AMD
    • ACE/CRC
    • CEOS

    Publications

    • Rigual-Hernandez, A.S., Trull, T.W., Bray, S.G., Cortina, A., Armand, L.K. (2015) Latitudinal and temporal distributions of diatom populations in the pelagic waters of the subantarctic and Polar Frontal Zones of the Southern Ocean and their role in the biological pump, Biogeosciences Discuss, 12, 8615-8690, doi:10.5194/bgd-12-8615-2015

    Metadata Revision History

      2015-05-26 - record created by Dave Connell from a template completed by Andres Rigual Hernandez. 2015-08-10 - record updated by Dave Connell to include a reference to publication. 2025-09-19 - record updated by Dave Connell - basic updates.

    Creative Commons License