The vertical distribution, abundance, population structure and life cycle of the ice-associated copepod, Paralabidocera antarctica was studied in the fast ice near Syowa Station (69°00'S, 39°35'E) in the eastern part of Lützow-Holm Bay in 1970, 1975 and 1982. The results indicated that P. antarctica inhabited the ice-seawater interface throughout the year with a one year life cycle and was actually present in the sea ice for most of the year except the summer. P. antarctica overwintered as naupliar stages (NIV-NV) with slow development in sea ice during winter. P. antarctica population then developed rapidly and attained adulthood in the water just beneath the sea ice during spring-summer. P. antarctica depended entirely on ice algae for food throughout its whole life-span, suggesting that the ice-seawater interface provides favourable food conditions for P. antarctica. The slow development in naupliar stages in sea ice and short copepodite life span in the water suggest that P. antarctica may adapt its growth strategy to suit the varying fast ice/water interface environment.

Patchiness in the horizontal distribution of sympagic organisms was studied at an Antarctic coastal site during autumn. A hierarchical sampling design (nested ANOVA) was used to assess variation in the biota on scales from metres to kilometres. Metazoan abundance, chlorophyll concentration and salinity were measured in 54 sea ice cores. The metazoan fauna was dominated by nauplii of the copepod Paralabidocera antarctica (6 × 104 to 4 × 105 m−2). Other copepods present included Stephos longipes, Oncaea curvata, Oithona similis, Ctenocalanus citer, and unidentified harpacticoid copepods. Chlorophyll a concentrations were generally much higher than values recorded at other sites at the same time of the year, reaching a maximum of 78 mg m−2. Metazoan abundances did not correlate strongly with chlorophyll or salinity. Significant variability in abundance of P. antarctica and O. similis, and chlorophyll concentration occurred at the scale of kilometres, whereas salinity and other metazoan abundances were not significantly variable at any of the scales examined. Considerable variation was evident at scales of less than one metre.