Abstract
The distribution of decapod crustaceans in the southernmost areas of South America and the Antarctic is assessed considering the Magellan Biogeographic Province instead of the antiboreal region. Possible associations between decapod crustaceans from the Magellan Biogeographic Province and those from the Antarctic region are analysed. Species records were assigned to seven geographic regions that were clustered using multivariate analyses based on species presence/absence and Bray-Curtis similarity. The results showed two well-established clusters, one of which included the Pacific and Atlantic areas of the Magellan Province, the southern tip of South America and the Kerguelen Arc islands, with the highest similarity between the southern tip and the Atlantic area. Another cluster was well separated and included the Antarctic and South Georgia with the highest similarity index. Earlier studies and results obtained here suggest that the faunas of southern Chile and southern Argentina are biogeographically related. There is a low level of association among decapod species from the circum-Antarctic region and the Magellan Province.
Highlights
Our knowledge on the distribution of decapod crustaceans from the Southern Ocean and Sub*Received april 14, 2004
The database utilised here includes species from the Magellan Province compiled by Boschi (2000a), and those with circum-Antarctic distribution and new species updated from the literature
The southernmost boundary reaches Cape Horn, and species present north of 55°S belong to the Magellan Province
Summary
Our knowledge on the distribution of decapod crustaceans from the Southern Ocean and Sub*Received april 14, 2004. Antarctic areas has increased considerably in the past years, and some studies have been concentrating on faunal connections of the Magellan and Antarctic decapod fauna (Arntz et al, 1999; Gorny, 1999; Thatje and Arntz, 2004). A common feature of previous studies is that the DISTRIBUTION OF DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS 195. Magellan region is referred to as the South American antiboreal region, between the Subtropical and the Antarctic Convergence (Ekman, 1953). Holthuis (1952) identified Chiloé Island in the Pacific Ocean as the northern boundary of the South American antiboreal region. In the Atlantic, the Río de La. Plata was the limit considered in other studies. Zarenkov (1968) recognised the Antarctic Convergence as the limit of the Antarctic decapod fauna
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