Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2012

AEBAR 2012: Marine Biodiversity
major groups tested to date. Fishes: DNA sequencing of the COI gene revealed four well supported
clades among the three recognized species of Macrourus in the Southern Ocean, indicating the
presence of an undescribed species (Smith et al. 2011). A conclusion subsequently supported by
meristic and morphometric examination of specimens with the description of a new species by
McMillan et al. (2012). DNA barcodes also showed high sequence divergence among specimens
of the slender codling Halargyreus johnsonii from New Zealand and the Southern Ocean,
indicative of a cryptic species in this cosmopolitan species (Smith et al. 2011). A study of
snailfishes collected during the IPY survey and from the toothfish fishery showed high species
diversity with more than 34 Ross Sea liparid species in three genera; 18 of them new to science
divergence (Stein 2012).
Invertebrates: A combined NZ-BAS data set on the octopod genus Pareledone provided one of the
largest barcoding studies on a Southern Ocean genus. Ross Sea specimens provisionally identified
as Pareledone aequipapillae appeared in a discrete clade to specimens from the Antarctic
Peninsula, with a barrier to gene flow to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula (Allcock et al. 2010).
Large numbers of echinoderms have been tissue sampled and sequenced for COI and include the
Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, Holothuroidea, and the crinoids (Dettai et al. in press). In the
Ophiuroidea two dominant patterns emerged: a. widely distributed species showing shallow
divergence by location and b. species with deeper divergence associated with location or depth,
that represent cryptic species. A similar pattern emerged in the smaller set of Asteroid sequences,
with deep divergences within some Ross Sea taxa. Preliminary results for the amphipod genus
Rhacotropis showed 5 well supported clades, indicative of cryptic taxa; while for the genus
Epimeria (27 specimens from the Ross Sea) there were two well supported clades for specimens
identified as Epimeria robusta, and likewise for specimens identified as E. schiaparelli, indicative
of cryptic taxa (Lörz 2009, 2010, Lörz et al. in press). These taxa show shallow morphological
differences.
IPY2007-02 NZ IPY-CAML Cephalopoda.
This project will report on the diversity of Antarctic Cephalopoda (Octopus and Squid), including a
complete inventory of taxa, and reports on ontogenetic and sexual variation in species, their
systematics, diversity, distribution, life histories, and trophic importance. A MAppSc thesis has been
completed as part of this project (Garcia 2010).
Other research relevant or specifically linked to the projects above, are listed in Table 11.8.
Table 11.8: Other research linked to MPI Ross Sea Antarctica biodiversity programme.
MPI
ANT2011-01 Stock modelling, fishery effects and ecosystems of the Ross Sea
MBIE C01X1001 Protecting Ross Sea Ecosystems. Comparative distribution and ecology of Macrourus
caml and M. whitsoni in the Ross Sea region; feeding relationships of fish species in the Ross Sea
region; Spatial processes, including spatial marine protection; Ecosystem modelling of the Ross
Sea region).(Pinkerton et al. 2012a,b; Murphy et al. 2012)
DOC Leigh Torres NIWA/Alison
OTHER Universities NIWA;Lincoln, Canterbury, Otago, Auckland, Waikato
EMERGING ISSUES
Coastal research and functional ecology-ongoing need
Taxonomic issues for fish and invertebrates (from IPY)ANT 2005-02
Water samples from throughout water column to assess microbial content (from IPY) check with Els
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