A moderately diverse assemblage of micromorphic linguliform brachiopods, including Tapuritreta gribovensis sp. nov., Wahwahlingula? pankovensis sp. nov., Acrothele sp., Anabolotreta? sp., Orbithele? sp. and Stilpnotreta sp., is for the first time described from the Cambrian Karpinsk Formation (Miaolingian, Guzhangian) of the South Island of Novaya Zemlya. The morphology of the metamorphic shell in Acrothele and Wahwahlingula? suggest that both taxa had a single pair of larval setal sacs, similar to the recent discinids, but their metamorphosis was completed only at the end of the pelagic stage and shows that they did have direct development, which is characteristic of all recent lingulides. The biogeographical signature of the new Cambrian brachiopod fauna from Novaya Zemlya is discussed, and the new fauna gives new information on the poorly known Cambrian margins of the Baltica palaeocontinent.