Porifera collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA) - Data

Claudio Ghiglione1, Maria Chiara Alvaro2, Matteo Cecchetto2, Simonepietro Canese3, Rachel Downey4, Alice Guzzi5, Claudio Mazzoli5, Paola Piazza5, Hans Tore Rapp5, Antonio Sarà5, Stefano Schiaparelli5, Claudio Ghiglione5

1 MNA, , Italy; 2 Genoa, Italy; 3 Milazzo, Italy; 4 Canberra, Australia; 5 

Corresponding author(s): Claudio Ghiglione (claudio.ghiglione@riftia.eu)Maria Chiara AlvaroMatteo CecchettoSimonepietro CaneseRachel DowneyAlice GuzziClaudio MazzoliPaola PiazzaHans Tore RappAntonio SaràStefano Schiaparelli, Claudio Ghiglione (claudio.ghiglione@riftia.eu)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Ghiglione C, Alvaro M C, Cecchetto M, Canese S, Downey R, Guzzi A, Mazzoli C, Piazza P, Rapp H T, Sarà A, Schiaparelli S (2017): Porifera collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA) - Data. v1.4. Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). Dataset/Occurrence. https://ipt.biodiversity.aq/resource?r=mna_antarctic_porifera&v=1.4

Abstract

This new dataset presents occurrence data for Porifera collected in the Ross Sea, mainly in the Terra Nova Bay area, and curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa). Specimens were collected in 331 different sampling stations at depths ranging from 17 to 1100 meters in the framework of 17 different Italian Antarctic expeditions funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). A total of 807 specimens, belonging to 144 morphospecies (i.e. 95 taxa identified at species level and 49 classified at least at the genus level), are included in the dataset. Nearly half (45%) of the species reported here correspond to species already known for Terra Nova Bay. Out of the remaining 55% previously unknown records, under a third (~29%) was classified at the specific level, while over a quarter (~26%) was ascribed to the genus level only and requires further study. All vouchers are permanently curated at the MNA and are available for study to the scientific community. A 3D model of an uncommon species from the Ross Sea, i.e. Tethyopsis brondstedi (Burton, 1929), is also presented here and will be made available for outreach purposes.

Keywords: Occurrence, Antarctica, Ross Sea, Terra Nova Bay, Porifera, Italian National Antarctic Museum, 3D models

General description

Additional information: marine, harvested by iOBIS

Project details

Project title: Antarctic Porifera in the collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA)
Personnel: Stefano Schiaparelli
Funding: The specimens were collected during different Antarctic expeditions funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). The complete list of research projects is reported here (in brackets is the project name or category under the PNRA program):
•	2.1.4.6 (Necton e risorse da pesca), III expedition (1987/1988)
•	2.1.4.3 (Oceanografia & Benthos), III expedition (1987/1988)
•	3.2.1.2.5 (Benthos), V expedition (1989/1990)
•	3.2.1.4 (Oceanografia geologica), V expedition (1989/1990)
•	2d.2 (Ecologia e biogeochimica dell'Oceano Meridionale), IX expedition (1993/1994)
•	2d.2 (Ecologia e biogeochimica dell'Oceano Meridionale), X expedition (1994/1995)
•	2d.2 (Ecologia e biogeochimica dell'Oceano Meridionale - ROSSMIZE), XI expedition (1995/1996)
•	2b.3 (Ecologia e biogeochimica dell'Oceano Meridionale), XIII expedition (1997/1998)
•	2b.3.1 (Struttura e dinamica delle cenosi marine di Baia Terra Nova), XIV expedition (1998/1999)
•	8.5 (L’area marina protetta di Baia Terra Nova: struttura e variazioni a breve e lungo termine), XV expedition (1999/2000)
•	4.7 (Processi genetici e significato paleoclimatico e paleoceanografico dei CARBONati marini biogenici in ANTartide - CARBONANT), XVII expedition (2001/2002)
•	8.5 (L’area marina protetta di Baia Terra Nova: struttura e variazioni a breve e lungo termine), XVII expedition (2001/2002)
•	2002/8.6 (The costal ecosystem of Victoria Land coast: distribution and structure along the latitudinal gradient), XVIII expedition (2002/2003)
•	2002/8.6 (The costal ecosystem of Victoria Land coast: distribution and structure along the latitudinal gradient), XIX expedition (2003/2004)
•	2004/1.6 (Batteri e caianobatteri antartici: biodiversità e produzione di composti con
potenzialità applicative in biotecnologia), XX expedition (2004/2005)
•	2004/8.2 (Variabilità della ventilazione polare abissale e suo impatto sulla circolazione globale - PolarDOVE), XXI expedition (2005/2006)
•	2006/08.01 (L’ecosistema costiero di Baia Terra Nova - Latitudinal Gradient Project), XXV expedition (2009/2010)
•	2004/08.04 (Ecologia e ciclo vitale di specie ittiche costiere del Mare di Ross), XXV expedition (2009/2010)
•	2010/A1.10 (Barcoding of Antarctic Marine Biodiversity - BAMBi), XXVII expedition (2011/2012)
•	2009/A1.09 (Diversità genetica spazio temporale di endoparassiti delle regioni polari: uno studio per la valutazione dell’impatto dei cambiamenti globali sulle reti trofiche marine), XXVIII expedition (2012/2013)
•	2010/A1.10 (Barcoding of Antarctic Marine Biodiversity - BAMBi), XXVIII expedition (2012/2013)
•	2010/A1.11 (Vulnerabilità dei pesci polari al cambiamento climatico: ciclo vitale, habitats e relazione con il ghiaccio marino in Pleuragramma antarcticum), XXVIII expedition (2012/2013)
•	2010/A1.10 (Barcoding of Antarctic Marine Biodiversity - BAMBi), XXIX expedition (2013/2014)
•	2013/AZ1.09 (Integrità dell’ecosistema marino antartico come presupposto per lo studio dell’interazione parassita-ospite: un approccio genetico, molecolare ed immunologico), XXIX expedition (2013/2014)
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The specimens were collected in the Ross Sea sector of the Southern Ocean in a bathymetric range from 17 to 1100 meters of depth.
Design description: Data were assembled by revising all the distributional records of the specimens deposited in the collections of the Italian Antarctic National Museum (MNA, section of Genoa, Italy). The samples were collected in the framework of several expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) from 1987 to 2014.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.biodiversity.aq/resource?r=mna_antarctic_porifera

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: This dataset focuses on all classes (Calcarea, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida and Homoscleromorpha) of the Phylum Porifera (Kingdom Animalia), and includes a total of 807 specimens belonging to 144 morphospecies (with 95 taxa classified at species level and 49 at genus level), and representing 12 orders and 30 families)
Taxonomic ranks
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Calcarea, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, Homoscleromorpha

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The specimens were collected in the Ross Sea sector of the Southern Ocean in a bathymetric range from 17 to 1100 meters of depth
Coordinates: 78°0'0''S and 70°0'0''S Latitude; 180°0'0''W and 160°0'0''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: January 6, 1988 - February 1, 2014

Natural collections description

Collection name: Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa, Italy)
Specimen preservation method: Formalin
Specimen preservation method: Deep frozen

Methods

Method step description: Due to the large amount of researchers that managed the material before the acquisition of the collection by the MNA, all the specimens and distributional records were rechecked and then imported in the museum database. During this phase it emerged that only ~75% of the Porifera collection fulfilled the expected minimum set of data fields to be included in GBIF. The remaining ~25% of the material present in the MNA collection can be divided in a ~7%, represented by material not yet classified, and another ~18% represented by old materials that cannot be ascribed to a specific sampling station due to missing labels or incomplete information about sampling.
Georeferencing on board each of the different research vessels is based on the interpolation of GPS satellite receivers and a gyrocompass. Station coordinates and sampling events were recorded during sampling activities based on various GPS systems.
Study extent description: The distributional data considered here originated from 331 different sampling stations ranging between 17 and 1100 metres of depth
Sampling description: Sampling was performed on a total of 331 different sampling stations (Figures 1, 3, 4, 5) through the deployment of a variety of sampling gears, mainly dredges (Charcot dredge, Naturalist dredge, Triangular dredge and Picard dredge) and Van Veen grabs of different volumes. Some samples were also opportunistically collected by long fishing lines, mid water trawls (that touched the bottom due to a failure of the winches), trammel nets and other fishing nets that provided additional material to standard techniques. Some samples, from the XIV, XV, XVII, XVIII, XXIII and XXV PNRA expeditions, were hand-collected by SCUBA diving. In one case (i.e. Sycetta antarctica (Brøndsted, 1931), MNA 8847) the specimen was collected beached and sampling coordinates refer to the coastline. In another case, i.e. Lycopodina cf. vaceleti (Van Soest and Baker 2011), the specimen record is based on a georeferenced ROV video frame (Figure 6) and no physical samples are available. 
Once the material has been acquired by the MNA after sorting and shipment activities, all the specimens were classified to the lowest possible taxonomical resolution. In the years, different researchers have contributed to the classification of the specimens: Homoscleromorpha were studied by Maurizio Pansini and Antonio Sarà; Demospongiae and Hexactinellida were studied by Rachel Downey, Antonio Sarà, Marco Bertolino, Maurizio Pansini and Barbara Calcinai; Calcarea were studied by Hans Tore Rapp.
The present dataset has been formatted in order to fulfil the Darwin Core standard protocol required by the OBIS scheme (http://iobis.org/data/schema-and-meta-data) and according to the SCAR-MarBIN Data Toolkit (available at http://www.scarmarbin.be/documents/SM-FATv1.zip). The dataset was uploaded in the ANTOBIS database (the geospatial component of SCAR-MarBIN).
Vouchers are now preserved in 90% ethanol (~53% of the entire collection), frozen (~23%), or dried (~24%).
Quality control description: Specimens were identified at the finest possible taxonomic resolution and only those that have been classified at least at the genus level were included in the present dataset. During all the phases of sorting, classification and storage of samples at the MNA, quality control and data cleaning have been undertaken at various stages in order to produce high quality data and make consistent cross-references between the database and sample labels. The MNA uses an SQL-based database (Specify 6) and a R-Shiny web application to manage its collections and link all the data (photos, glass slides, etc.) to the physical samples.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Porifera collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA) - Data
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.biodiversity.aq/archive.do?r=mna_antarctic_porifera
Publication date of data: 2019-03-19
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2017-12-14
Hierarchy level: Dataset