Conquered from the deep sea? A new deep-sea isopod species from the Antarctic shelf shows pattern of recent colonization

PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e49354. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049354. Epub 2012 Nov 7.

Abstract

The Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, is amongst the most rapidly changing environments of the world. Its benthic inhabitants are barely known and the BIOPEARL 2 project was one of the first to biologically explore this region. Collected during this expedition, Macrostylis roaldi sp. nov. is described as the first isopod discovered on the Amundsen-Sea shelf. Amongst many characteristic features, the most obvious characters unique for M. roaldi are the rather short pleotelson and short operculum as well as the trapezoid shape of the pleotelson in adult males. We used DNA barcodes (COI) and additional mitochondrial markers (12S, 16S) to reciprocally illuminate morphological results and nucleotide variability. In contrast to many other deep-sea isopods, this species is common and shows a wide distribution. Its range spreads from Pine Island Bay at inner shelf right to the shelf break and across 1,000 m bathymetrically. Its gene pool is homogenized across space and depth. This is indicative for a genetic bottleneck or a recent colonization history. Our results suggest further that migratory or dispersal capabilities of some species of brooding macrobenthos have been underestimated. This might be relevant for the species' potential to cope with effects of climate change. To determine where this species could have survived the last glacial period, alternative refuge possibilities are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Migration
  • Animals
  • Climate Change
  • DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic
  • Female
  • Genetic Markers
  • Geography
  • Isopoda / anatomy & histology
  • Isopoda / genetics*
  • Isopoda / physiology
  • Male
  • Phylogeny*

Substances

  • Genetic Markers

Grants and funding

Two LAB visits at the National Museum of National History of Torben Riehl were partly funded by the “Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life” taxonomic exchange fellowship and the “Stiftung Universität Hamburg”. Preparation of this manuscript benefitted from a Ph.D. fellowship to the first author by the “German national academic foundation” (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes) and a travel grant from the same source. Stefanie Kaiser acknowledges a grant provided by the University of Hamburg (“Innovationsfond”). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.