Molecular Phylogeography and Ecology of small Antarctic Calanoida (Copepoda, Crustacea)

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At present little is known about the oceanographic processes and biological traits that influence the dispersal of these planktonic species, and thus connectivity, in Antarctic waters. In the Antarctic marine pelagic species or species with pelagic life stages (e.g. larvae) are often considered to have a circumpolar distribution due to the absence of obvious barriers. The strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current is thought to facilitate the dispersal of specimens around Antarctica. However, recent investigations have shown genetic diversifications in planktonic organism on a worldwide geographical scale. To understand the importance of geographical differences in planktonic species it is necessary to detect morphologically cryptic taxa in order to investigate the physical processes and biological traits that lead to genetic diversification in pelagic Antarctic waters. For the presented project five abundant, but little studied, smaller species of calanoid copepods in the Southern Ocean have been chosen to study their phylogeography and ecology. These species have a similiar size range, but show different patterns of distribution (worldwide - endemic), depth habitats (epipelagic - mesopelagic - bathypelagic) and feeding modes (herbivorous - omnivorous). Their biogeographical patterns and rates of evolutionary diversification will be investigated with the help of mitochondrial and nuclear genes, AFLP fingerprints and 454 sequencing.