The plankton of the Prince Edward Islands

Summary The Prince Edward Islands (47°S, 38°E) are situated very close to the border between the antarctic and subantarctic zones. There is, indeed, some difference of opinion whether this border, the Antarctic covergence or Polar front, should be drawn at 46° or 50°S (see Discussion). Deacon (1983) claims that the complexity of the currents in this area leads to more interchange and less clear gradation between Antarctic and subantarctic waters than in most longitudes. This is a study of the species composition, and a very rough estimate of the standing stock, of the plankton fauna of the waters surrounding the Prince Edward Islands during two surveys conducted by us in 1982 and 1983. They are compared with each other and with a third survey by Grindley and Lane in 1979 and data presented by Miller (1985). The plankton is mainly antiboreal (Systematic Account and Table 1). However, entrants of tropical, sub-tropical and antarctic origin are noted. The means of advection of these aliens into the region are hypothesized and it is further speculated that they may be, at times, relics of decayed biocoenoses.     

Paradasyhelea harrisoni n.sp. from the Auckland Islands,and additional records of subantarctic Ceratopogonidae

Abstract

A new species of Paradasyhelea Macfie is described from females found on the Auckland Islands, New Zealand, and a key is presented to separate it from its five known congeners. New distribution and habitat records are presented for the three ceratopogonid species previously reported from the subantarctic islands of New Zealand—Forcipomyia kuscheli Sublette & Wirth, F. tapleyi Ingram & Macfie, and Dasyhelea aucklandensis Sublette & Wirth.     

New records of Acari from the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands

Sixty species of Acari are recorded from the sub-Antarctic Marion and Prince Edward Islands (the Prince Edward archipelago). Twenty of the 45 species collected on recent expeditions are new and currently undescribed. Other new taxa include a family of Mesostigmata, four new genera, and the first sub-Antarctic records of Cillibidae (Mesostigmata) and Eryngiopus (Prostigmata). Fifteen of the 31 species previously reported from the islands are confirmed, although eight of the previous accounts remain doubtful. The fauna, which shows a distinction between the shoreline and terrestrial components, comprises endemic, South Indian Ocean Province and sub-Antarctic mite species. Accepted: 18 July 1998