Processes generating Diversity Patterns in Antarctic Shelf and Deep-Sea Shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea): Genetic and Morphometric Analyses combined with Enviromental Niche Models (ENMs)

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Although only a few decapod species inhabit the waters of Antarctica, shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) represent an important and abundant element of the Antarctic shelf and deep-sea benthos. In this study, a combined approach based on a) mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, b) microsatellites c) morphology/morphometric studies and d) Environmental Niche Models (ENMs) will be used to compare phylogeography, population structure, genetic/morphological variability and distribution of the shallow-water shrimp Chorismus antarcticus and the deep-sea shrimp Nematocarcinus lanceopes in detail for the first time. The results will help us, in combination with oceanographic data and environmental gradients, to understand currently unknown processes generating diversity and radiation processes within Antarctic shelf and deep-sea taxa with pelagic larval stages in detail. In this context, we will receive a new understanding of the genetic structure of species in a polar ecosystem that was subjected to glaciation events of Antarctica in the past and is likely to be impacted by global climatic change in the near future. The use of Environmental Niche Models allows us to project the species’ current realized environmental niches onto palaeoclimatic and future climate change scenarios.