Biodiversity data and new species descriptions of polychaetes from offshore waters of the Falkland Islands, an area undergoing hydrocarbon exploration.

ABSTRACT: Benthic environmental impact assessments and monitoring programs accompanying offshore hydrocarbon industry activities result in large collections of benthic organisms. Such collections offer great potential for systematics, biodiversity and biogeography research, but these opportunities are only rarely realised. In recent decades, the hydrocarbon industry has started exploration activities in offshore waters off the Falkland Islands. A large collection of ca. 25,000 polychaete (Annelida) specimens, representing some 233 morphological species was processed at the Natural History Museum, London. Taxonomic assessment led to recognition of many polychaete species that are new to science. The existing taxonomic literature for the region is outdated and many species in existing literature are l

SUBMITTER: Neal L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7286948 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature