Meeting Abstract

62.1  Saturday, Jan. 5  Larval dispersal and evolutionary history of Antarctic benthic fauna HALANYCH, K.M.*; SCHELTEMA, R.S.; Auburn University; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ken@auburn.edu

Roughly 30-35 MYA, the separation of the Antarctic continent from the South American plate formed the Drake Passage and the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC). The presence of the ACC has been repeatedly invoked to explain biogeographic patterns such as high endemism and circumpolar species in Antarctica. In order to test these long-standing assumptions, we have been assessing the presence of larvae from benthic invertebrates in the Drake Passage and along the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as using mitochondrial DNA sequence data to elucidate genetic connectivity. Both sets of data confirm gene flow across the ACC and provide novel information about population structure of invertebrates along the Antarctic Peninsula. The hypothesis of circumpolar distributions needs to be assessed on a taxon-by-taxon basis. Additionally, our results underscore the need for additional taxonomic and descriptive work in the Southern Ocean.