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Journal of Heredity Advance Access published online on February 2, 2008
Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esm119
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© The American Genetic Association. 2008. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Evaluating Connectivity in the Brooding Brittle Star Astrotoma agassizii across the Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean

Rebecca L. Hunter, and Kenneth M. Halanych

From the Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Sciences Building, Auburn, AL 36849

Address correspondence to Rebecca L. Hunter at the address above, or e-mail: belchrl{at}auburn.edu.

Studies examining population structure and genetic diversity of benthic marine invertebrates in the Southern Ocean have emerged in recent years. However, many taxonomic groups remain largely unstudied, echinoderms being one conspicuous example. The brittle star Astrotoma agassizii is distributed widely throughout Antarctica and southern South America. This species is a brooding echinoderm and therefore may have limited dispersal capacity. In order to determine the effect of hypothesized isolating barriers in the Southern Ocean, such as depth, geographic distance, and the polar front, 2 mitochondrial DNA markers were used to compare populations from the South American and Antarctic continental shelves. Astrotoma agassizii was shown to be genetically discontinuous across the polar front. In fact, populations previously assumed to be panmictic instead represent 3 separate lineages that lack morphological distinction. However, within lineages, genetic continuity was displayed across a large geographic range (>500 km). Therefore, despite lacking a pelagic larval stage, A. agassizii can disperse across substantial geographic distance within continental shelf regions. These results indicate that geographic distance alone may not be a barrier to dispersal, but rather the combined effects of distance, depth, and the polar front act to prevent gene flow between A. agassizii populations in the Southern Ocean.

Corresponding Editor: Jill Pecon-Slattery

Received May 18, 2007
Accepted November 3, 2007


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