Chapter 5 Connectivity and Molecular Ecology of Antarctic Fishes Filip A. M. Volckaert, Jennifer Rock and Anton P. Van de Putte 5.1 Introduction The international program on Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (Anonymous 2005) focused on the influence of evolution and diversity of life on the properties and dynamics of the Southern Ocean (SO) biome. It also wanted to predict how communities and organisms respond to environmental change. A component of the program aimed at understanding micro-evolutionary processes and dynamics during the Pleistocene and Holocene. The past three million years have shaped the ‘‘shallow’’ evolution of genes, organisms and ecosystems through major climate changes and short period earth periodicities. Fish, a major source of ecosystem goods, play a key role in the ecosystem. However, it is only since relatively recently that the fish communities of the SO started to reveal their characteristics. Before summarizing the current understanding of their connec- tivity and molecular ecology, we introduce the reader to those aspects that have affected their recent evolution so much. F. A. M. Volckaert (&) Á A. P. Van de Putte Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium e-mail: fi
[email protected] J. Rock Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand e-mail:
[email protected] A. P. Van de Putte Belgian Biodiversity Platform, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 27, 1000 Brussels, Belgium e-mail:
[email protected] G. di Prisco and C. Verde (eds.), Adaptation and Evolution in Marine Environments, 75 Volume 1, From Pole to Pole, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-27352-0_5, Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 76 F.