Underwater Field Guide to Ross Island & McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Peter Brueggeman

Principal Photographer & Project Initiator: Norbert Wu
Photographs: Steve Alexander; Bill Baker; Isidro Bosch; Sam Bowser/S043 Archives; Jeffrey Bozanic; Rod Budd/Antarctica New Zealand; Peter Brueggeman; Kirsten Carlson/National Science Foundation; Kathleen Conlan/Canadian Museum of Nature; Bill Curtsinger; Paul Cziko; Paul Dayton; Guenter Foersterra; Bjørn Gulliksenda/UWPhoto ANS; Vreni Haeussermann; Shawn Harper; Luke Hunt; Henry Kaiser; Uwe Kils; Stacy Kim/ROV SCINI; Adam G. Marsh; Jim Mastro; Rowan McLachlan; Bruce A. Miller; Michael Oellermann; Eva Philipp; Mikhail Propp/UCSD Library; Kevin Raskoff; Hans Peter Reinthaler; Rob Robbins; Steven Rupp; Robert Sanders/Sam Bowser/S043 Archives; Dirk Schories; M Dale Stokes.
VOLUME 1: PORIFERA
demosponges, glass sponges, calcareous sponges
VOLUME 2: CNIDARIA
anemones, soft coral, medusae, siphonophores, hydroids, jellyfish
VOLUME 3: MOLLUSCA
nudibranchs, pteropods, gastropods, bivalves, chitons, octopus
VOLUME 4: ECHINODERMATA
seastars, urchins, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, crinoids
VOLUME 5: ARTHROPODA
sea spiders, amphipods, isopods, copepods, krill, ostracods, mysids,
tanaids, barnacles, shrimp
VOLUME 6: CHORDATA
salps, ascidians, tunicates, fish, penguins, marine mammals
VOLUME 7: OTHER PHYLA
Ctenophora (comb jellies, ctenophores) -- Nemertea (proboscis worms) --
Bryozoa (bryozoans) -- Brachiopoda (brachiopods, lamp shells) --
Chaetognatha (arrow worms) --
Annelida (polychaetes, bristle worms, featherduster worms, leeches)
VOLUME 8: PROTOCTISTA
foraminiferans, amoeba, algae, diatoms
© 2023 Peter Brueggeman. First published in April 1998.
DISCLAIMER: This Field Guide aims to facilitate underwater/topside field identification from visual characters. Most organisms were identified from photographs with no specimen collection, so there can be uncertainty with these identifications.


The National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs sponsored Norbert Wu on an Artist's & Writer's Grant. This Field Guide is a direct result of that sponsorship & Norbert Wu's efforts.
Click here to see other work of Norbert Wu.
Photographs © copyrighted, & may not be used in any form without the express written permission of the photographer whose name is overlaid on an image. Contact individual photographers to request permission; do not contact Peter Brueggeman, who is not authorized to grant permission for use of their images. Norbert Wu does not grant permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; see www.norbertwu.com for information.

Photographs © Steve Alexander, Isidro Bosch, Sam Bowser/S043 Archives, Jeffrey Bozanic, Rod Budd/Antarctica New Zealand, Peter Brueggeman, Kirsten Carlson/National Science Foundation, Kathleen Conlan/Canadian Museum of Nature, Bill Curtsinger, Paul Cziko, Paul Dayton, Guenter Foersterra, Bjørn Gulliksen, Vreni Haeussermann, Shawn Harper, Luke Hunt, Henry Kaiser, Uwe Kils, Stacy Kim, Mike Lucibella/National Science Foundation, Adam G. Marsh, Jim Mastro, Rowan McLachlan, Bruce A. Miller, Michael Oellermann, Eva Philipp, Mikhail Propp/UCSD Library, Kevin Raskoff, Hans Peter Reinthaler, Rob Robbins, Steven Rupp, Robert Sanders/Sam Bowser/S043 Archives), Dirk Schories, M Dale Stokes, Norbert Wu.
Other Antarctic Marine Identification Guides


PDF: Schories' Marine Wildlife, King George Island Antarctica, Identification Guide


Book: Rauschert & Arntz' Antarctic Macrobenthos


Book: Sieg & Wägele's Fauna der Antarktis

Online Book: Gon and Heemstra's Fishes of the Southern Ocean

PDF: McMillan et al Fishes of the Ross Sea Region – A field guide to common species caught in the longline fishery

PDF: FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes, Southern Ocean, Volumes 1 & 2


PDF: Xavier et al Crustacean guide for predator studies in the Southern Ocean


PDF: SE Anosov's Illustrated guide of Decapoda for Atlantic sector of Antarctic and surrounding waters


PDF: Neill, Kelly, & Herr's Amazing Antarctic Asteroids: a Guide to the Starfish of the Ross Sea

Online key: Saucede's Antarctic Echinoidea

Online key: Jossart's Pterasteridae Southern Ocean

Online key: Jossart's Odontasteridae Southern Ocean

Website: PROTEKER's [Kerguelen Islands] Coastal Echinoderms

PDF: Hibberd and Moore's Field Identification Guide to Heard Island and McDonald Islands Benthic Invertebrates

Book: Häussermann and Försterra's Marine Benthic Fauna of Chilean Patagonia, Illustrated Identification Guide

PDF: HYDROZOA chapter in Häussermann and Försterra's Marine Benthic Fauna of Chilean Patagonia, Illustrated Identification Guide

PDF: Aldea's Guia Representative de la Biodiversidad de los Fondos Marinos de Magallanes, a biodiversity guide representing the seabeds of Magallanes

PDF: Zagal and Hermosilla's Guía de invertebrados marinos del sur de Chile/Guide to marine invertebrates of southern Chile

PDF: Macaya et al Guia Fotografica, Macroalgas Marinas de Ushuaia

Website: Bravo et al [Beagle Channel, Argentina] Biodiversidad Submarina Islas Becasses

PDF: Jofre et al Guia de Macroalgas Subantarticas

PDF: Atkinson and Sink's Field Guide to Offshore Marine Invertebrates of South Africa

Book/PDF: Reid's Cephalopods of Australia and Sub-Antarctic Territories
Other Antarctic Resources

Photos: Adam Marsh's Marine Invertebrates of McMurdo Sound

Photos: United States Antarctic Program Photo Library: see 'wildlife'


Online Book: SCAR's Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean

Website: Register of Antarctic Marine Species

PDF: Oral histories of early American marine biologists in Antarctica: Gerald Kooyman, John Pearse, Jack Littlepage, Paul Dayton, & Gordon Robilliard

PDF: NSF's Antarctic Dive Guide

PDF: Diving Under Antarctic Ice
diving on Norbert Wu's NSF Artists & Writers project


PDF: Peter Brueggeman's Diving under Antarctic ice: a history, 1902 - 1964