As climate changes, species like this soft coral will react

atmospheric temperature on the Antarctica Peninsula has increased by 2.5C over the same time and is one of the most rapidly warming areas on the planet

a sea snail

Groups of islands in the polar regions appear to be the last place where biodiversity is much the same as when man first started researching them. The team found little evidence of invasive species in the 100 years of data from study on the islands.

remarkable looking sea lemon

surprisingly has more known species than the Galapagos, and many temperate and tropical regions

'This abundance of life was completely unexpected for a location in the polar regions, previously perceived to be poor in biodiversity

'This is the first time anybody has done an inventory like this in the polar regions'

Five were new to science

The animals recorded were checked against a century of literature and modern databases. The team concluded there are over 1,200 known marine and land species,