TY - JOUR N2 - The paper comprises the review of all 23 known valid species along with synonyms and polytomic keys based on morphological features. Mature specimens of 8 species occur in fishes, 4 in birds, 11 in mammals. Each species settles in a definite section of the digestive tract. The structure of a population is dependent upon the time which has passed since the moment of invasion and the intensity of infestation. Acathocephalans can be found in hosts all the year round, but incomplete seasonality of the occurrence of 2 fish parasites has been recorded. Fish parasites show wide specificity in relation to the hosts mentioned while bird and mammal parasites specificity is narrow. The majority of acanthocephalan species have circumpolar distribution but only 3 have been found inside the polar circle and the other 7 are common in the environs of subcontinental archipelagoes. Acanthocephalans do not yield precedence as far as the diversity of species and infestation intensity are concerned in the Antarctic to other groups of parasite helminths. Their great importance results from their mass occurrence in the vertebrates which are the focus of. man's practical interests — fishes, seals and whales. L1 - http://czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/111393/PDF/1986_1-2_079-117.pdf L2 - http://czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/111393 PY - 1986 IS - No 1-2 EP - 117 KW - Antarctic KW - Acanthocephala KW - biology KW - key KW - distribution KW - specificity A1 - Zdzitowiecki, Krzysztof PB - Polish Academy of Sciences PB - Committee on Polar Research VL - vol. 7 DA - 1986 T1 - Acanthocephala of the Antarctic SP - 97 UR - http://czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/111393 T2 - Polish Polar Research ER -