Circumpolar Organism

any animal or plant species whose range girdles either of the polar regions. There are many circumpolar organisms. Arctic land-dwelling forms include the arctic fox, reindeer, ptarmigan, and polar willow; aquatic circumarctic animals include the walrus, the narwhal, the white whale, the arctic cod, the isopod Mesidotea entomon, and mollusks of the genus Joldia. Circumpolar organisms in the antarctic include the Weddell seal, the Adelie penguin, finback and other whales, fishes of the genus Notothenia, almost all pelagic invertebrates (including krill), many benthic invertebrates, algae of the genus Desmarestia, and mosses of the genus Sarconeurum.