Phylogeography and genetic structure of the ascidian Cnemidocarpa verrucosa along the Antarctic Peninsula

RUIZ, MICAELA BELÉN; SAHADE, RICARDO; HELD, CHRISTOPH

Congreso; 109th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG); 2017

The Southern Ocean is one of the most physical and thermally isolated marine ecosystems characterized by high levels of endemism. The ascidians are an important group in the benthic community and locally very abundant in the Antarctic Peninsula. Here, we study the genetic variation within Cnemidocarpa verrucosa, one of the most widely distributed ascidians in Antarctica using the mitochondrial gen cytochrome (COI) and the nuclear gen 18S. Using COI and 18S markers, we studied the phylogeography and demography of ten different populations of C. verrucosa, distributed along the Antarctic Peninsula. The bimodal distribution of genetic distances in COI (two mitochondrial lineage separated by 46 substitutions) suggests the existence of an as yet undescribed cryptic species within nominal C. verrucosa.