SCAR Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean - Benthic Hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) - data

This dataset represents a literature study on the distribution of Benthic Hydrozoids in Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic waters. Dataset supplied in the framework of the SCAR Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean (BASO). The Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean is a collection of representative maps and syntheses on the distribution of the Southern Ocean organisms, providing a general overview of the biogeography of the Southern Ocean (s.l.) and a benchmark of current biogeographic knowledge at the end of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. This updates the well-known and useful but largely outdated Hedgpeth 1969?s Folio on ?Distribution of selected groups of marine invertebrates in waters south of 35?S latitude? in the Antarctic Map Folio Series (American Geographical Society). Antarctic benthic hydroids belong to the class Hydrozoa and are represented by members of the two hydrozoans subclasses, Hydroidolina and Trachylina. Peak diversity among hydrozoans in Antarctic benthic communities exists in the subclass Hydroidolina, represented by the orders Anthoathecata and Leptothecata, with the later being much better represented. Of 179 species considered, only two belong to Trachylina, in particular to the order Limnomedusae. The remaining 177 species are unequally distributed between Anthoathecata and Leptothecata.