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Antarctic bdelloid rotifers: diversity, endemism and evolution

  • BIOLOGY OF THE ROSS SEA
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Abstract

Antarctica is an isolated continent whose conditions challenge the survival of living organisms. High levels of endemism are now known in many Antarctic organisms, including algae, tardigrades, nematodes and microarthropods. Bdelloid rotifers are a key, widespread and abundant group of Antarctic microscopic invertebrates. However, their diversity, regional distribution and endemism have received little attention until recently. We provide the first authoritative review on Antarctic Bdelloidea, based on published data and new collections. Our analysis reveals the extreme levels of bdelloid endemism in Antarctica. Sixty-six bdelloid morphospecies are now confirmed from the continent, and 83–91 putative species are identified using molecular approaches (depending on the delimitation method used). Twelve previously unknown species are described based on both morphology and molecular analyses. Molecular analyses indicate that only two putative species found in Antarctica proved to be truly cosmopolitan. The level of endemism based on the available data set (95%) is higher than that in any other continent, with many bdelloid species occurring only in maritime or continental Antarctica. These findings are consistent with the long-term presence of Bdelloidea in Antarctica, with their considerable isolation facilitating intraregional radiation, providing further evidence that does not support the microbial global ubiquity hypothesis that “everything is everywhere.”

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. D. Fontaneto, Prof. W. H. De Smet and Prof. L. A. Kutikova for providing a number of poorly accessible literature sources and Dr. Ioanna Vaňková for her kind help and consultations on the Latin names for the new species. Prof. T. G. Barraclough is acknowledged for providing important suggestions on species delimitation methods and the code for PCA. Dr. V. N. Fursov is acknowledged for the help in imaging rotifers. We acknowledge the Centre for Polar Ecology of the University of South Bohemia, Polish Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine and the Centre “Animalia” at the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kiev, for the financial support and providing equipment and Raytheon Polar Services for logistical support. Funding also was provided by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PMSHE) Program for Supporting International Mobility of Scientists and PMSHE grant nos. 2P04F00127, NN304069033 and NN305376438 (JS), the National Science Foundation project no. ANT 0739575 (JS), the Grant Agency of the Czech Academy of Sciences grant no. KJB600450903 (KJ, NI, EK), Czech Ministry of Education project no. LM2010009 (KJ), European Social Fund and the Czech Republic-supported project no. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0190 (KJ), the Institute of Environmental Technologies, Ostrava, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0100 supported by the Research and Development for Innovations Operational Program financed by Structural Funds of European Union and State Budget of the Czech Republic (ZĎ). PC is supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council core funding to the British Antarctic Survey’s core ‘Enviornmental Change and Evolution’ program. This paper contributes to the SCAR ‘State of the Antarctic Ecosystem’ program.

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Author notes

  1. J. Smykla

    Present address: Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Rd., Wilmington, NC, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, 71000, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    N. S. Iakovenko, Z. Duriš & K. Janko

  2. Department of Invertebrate Fauna and Systematics, Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, Bogdana Khmelnits’kogo Str. 15, Kiev, 01601, Ukraine

    N. S. Iakovenko

  3. Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Mickiewicza 33, 31-120, Kraków, Poland

    J. Smykla

  4. British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    P. Convey

  5. Laboratory of Fish Genetics, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics AS ČR, Rumburská 89, 27721, Liběchov, Czech Republic

    E. Kašparová & K. Janko

  6. Educational and Scientific Centre “Institute of Biology”, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev, Volodymyrs’ka Str. 64, Kiev, 01033, Ukraine

    I. A. Kozeretska & V. Trokhymets

  7. Department of Zoology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Grushevs’kogo Str. 4, Lviv, 79005, Ukraine

    I. Dykyy

  8. Department of Biology, State Gymnasium, Ochsenkamp 100, 58285, Gevelsberg, Germany

    M. Plewka

  9. Biology Centre, Institute of Soil Biology AS ČR, Na Sádkách 7, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    M. Devetter

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  1. N. S. Iakovenko
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Correspondence to N. S. Iakovenko.

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Guest editors: Diego Fontaneto & Stefano Schiaparelli / Biology of the Ross Sea and Surrounding Areas in Antarctica

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Iakovenko, N.S., Smykla, J., Convey, P. et al. Antarctic bdelloid rotifers: diversity, endemism and evolution. Hydrobiologia 761, 5–43 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2463-2

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