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Biological and geological sampling inthe Antarctic Peninsula area

ARISTIDES PINTO-COELHOInst it uto Brasileiro de Estudos Antarticos

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

The Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos Antarticos wasinvited to participate in 1973-1974 U.S. Antarctic Re-search Program activities in the Antarctic Peninsulaarea, My work was associated with that of Dr. Jere H.Lipps, University of California, Davis, who studiedthe biology and ecology of shallow-water benthicforaminif era.

In addition to collecting ostracods and other bi-ological specimens near the Beagle Channel Island,Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, I collected biological andgeological materials near the following AntarcticPeninsula locations: Deception Island (58 sites on theisland, including Port Foster, Whalers' Bay, CollinsPoint, Telefon Bay, Fumarole Bay, and Neptune Bel-lows, and 50 sites around the island); Livingston Is-land (seabottom sampling at False Bay and samplingof ce, rocks, and lichens from the island), KingGerge Island (seabottom sampling) ; Elephant Island(se bottom sampling). My work was conducted fromabcard R/V Hero. Fossils were collected at Hope Bayon he return trip home aboard MS Lindblad Explorer.

lip uring sampling we were unable to determine thepHj value of clay picked up from the seabottom,the water temperature at the sampling point, the watersalinity at or near the sampling point, or the amountof ight on spots of algae collected. Hopefully thesedetermjnations can be made in future studies.

he following materials were collected for lateranalysis in Brazil:

Figure 1. Algae analysis (phycobilins) of Pantoneura plocamioidesOptical density is plotted against absorption wavelength.

2,5

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325 mu

Figure 2. Algae analysis (phycobilins) of (?) rhodophycea.Optical density is plotted against absorption wavelength.

(1) seawater from different depths (around andnear Deception Island), to determine the oxygen'8/oxygen 16 content (Centro de Energia Nuclear naAgricultura, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo);

(2) ice, also to determine oxygen' 8 /oxygen' 8 con-tent (Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura,Piracicaba, Sao Paulo);

Maximum absorption of non-antarctic algae phycobilins comparedto maximum absorption of antarctic algae phycobillins

(Haxo and Norris, 955).

AlgaeChromoproteinMaximum absorption(mit)

RhodymenaR-phycoerithrin497, 537, 564pert orata

PorphyraR-phycoerithrin497,562per forata

PhormidiumC-phycoerithrin 560persicinum

PorphyraR-phycocianin 555,617perforata

LyngbyaC-phycocianin 620lerheinii

PorphyridiumAllophycocianin 650cruentum

Antarctic algaePantoneuraR-phycoerithrin 290, 500

plocamioides(?) R-phycoerithrin 325

rhodophyceaDelisea pulchra R-phycoerithrin 300

July—August 1974 109

O.D

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Figure 3. Algae analysis (phycobilins) of Delisea pulchra. Opticaldensity is plotted against absorption wavelength.

(3) rocks (volcanic and others) from several islandsand from the continent, itself (Museu Nacional, Riode Janeiro);

(4) ice fish, rock fish, and krill (Museu InstitutoBrasileiro de Estudos Antarticos).

A lack of foraminifera samples made it impossibleto conduct analyses in the field. Therefore my studiesat the Palmer Station biological laboratory concen-trated on algae. I noticed a strong and odd odor froma special algae, classified by Dr. Ted deLaca asDelisea pulchra. An extraction of that smell was donewith warm air (about 40°C.); the odor was extractedon acetone (due to the lack of ether). The extract wasdried overnight and solubilized with acetone to 1milliliter. Since the Palmer laboratory had no thinlayer chromatography system, I did not have enoughtime to run a complete paper chromatogram; thisshould be done in order to properly identify the sub-stance(s) responsible for the algae's toxic (?) self-protective (?) smell.

Since I was intrigued by the luminosity of ant-arctic seas, my interest in energy uptake by photo-synthetic organisms became stronger upon examiningalgae samples collected by scuba divers. I establishedthe following procedures for this investigation:

(1) collect algae in seawater about 24 meters deep,near Palmer Station;

(2) classify the samples as either (a) Pantoneuraplocamioides, (b) (?) rhodophycea, or (c) Deliseapulchra;

(3) place about 30 grams of each in Erlenmeyerflasks with 100 milliliters of water;

(4) boil for 3 hours;

(5) centrifugally separate the color extract;(6) note reactions to confirm the presence of

phycobilins (with ammonium, color becomes bluish-yellow; with hydrochloric acid, color intensity de-creases; with tannic acid, a brownish blue complexis formed);

(7) run the sample on the Beckman DB spectro-photometer to determine absorption curves.

In the three figures, showing results of the aboveprocedures, optical density (OD) is plotted againstabsorption wavelength. The peaks are very specificfor the antarctic algae, probably due to algae adpta-tion to an environment in which light of low wave-length is predominant. It is useful to compare thevalue I obtained with results for non-antarctic algae(table). I

Phycobilins are accessory pigments synthesized ex-clusively by some algae for the photosynthetic systemII whose function is the generation of oxidizing poweras a prerequisite for the photoevolution of oxygen.They are non-metallic pigments in which an opentetrapirrolic chain (related to bile pigments) is asso-ciated with a specific protein (molecular weight 75,-000). The more common are phycobilins on red (R-rhodophyta) and blue (C-cyanophita) algae.

These preliminary findings suggest that antacticalgae phycobilins and the strong smell of some ant-arctic algae probably have some ecological mea1ingand deserve careful attention, particularly when om-

ReferenceHaxo, F., and P. Norris. 1955. Comparative studie of

chromatographically separated phycoerytrins and pF4yco-cyanins. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 54(1):162-173. I

Argentine Antarctic Institute activities atPalmer Station

RUBEN DIPAOLA and E. MARSCHOFFDireccion Nacional del Antartico

Buenos Aires, Argentina

During the 1973-1974 austral summer, from Jaiiu-ary 8 to February 15, 1974, we conducted bio1ogiaIresearch at Palmer Station and aboard R/V Hero.This research, to determine growth parameters andto analyze trophic relationships of benthic fishes fromthe Antarctic Peninsula area, is part of the ArgentineAntarctic Institute's (IAA) Bioantar program.

About 1,200 specimens were collected and put informalin. Of this number, 808 specimens were meas-

110 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL