Himantozoum antarcticum (Calvet, 1909)

Species details

Species distribution

25m to deep water, on hard and soft substrates inside the Polar Frontal zone (so not Subantarctic islands) from South Georgia and Bouvet Island through to Antarctic continental waters. Has not been reported from East Antarctica.

H. antarcticum is an endemic Antarctic species, which can be very abundant but is probably ignored by zoologists mistaking it for a clump of algae. It (suspension) feeds for just over half the year and probably grows quickly (for a polar species). Its rear surface is often colonised by spirorbid worms.
The main observed predators of H. antarcticum are pycnogonans, though it seems likely other animals might eat it too.