Data from: Connectivity, small islands and large distances: the Cellana strigilis limpet complex in the Southern Ocean.

• Main Authors: Reisser, Céline M O, Wood, Ann R, Bell, J J, Gardner, Jonathan P A
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Life sciences; medicine and health care; New Zealand; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-in-39ks; https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/ui/datasets/id/easy-dataset:80591

The Southern Ocean contains some of the most isolated islands on Earth and fundamental questions remain regarding their colonisation and the connectivity of their coastal biotas. Here we conduct a genetic investigation of the Cellana strigilis (limpet) complex that was originally classified based on morphological characters into six subspecies, five of which are endemic to the New Zealand (NZ) subantarctic and Chatham islands (44° to 52° S). Previous genetic analyses of C. strigilis from six of the seven island groups revealed two lineages with little or no within-lineage variation. We analysed C. strigilis samples from all seven island groups using two mitochondrial (COI and 16S), one nuclear (ATPase ) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPDs), and confirmed the existence of two distinct lineages. We also detected pronounced genetic structuring within each lineage, with limpets from each island having their own genetic identity. These results are strikingly congruent with those recently reported for the southern bull kelp Durvillea antarctica, in which the NZ subantarctic and Chatham islands were proposed as refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Given the likely absence of larval dispersal among the islands, limpet rafting on kelp most probably explains the observed phylogeographic structure. Island-specific genetic identities and the paucity of shared haplotypes suggest that a small number of isolated colonisation events have occurred within each lineage are characterised by little or no genetic connectivity and therefore very high (southwest group) or total (northeast group) self-recruitment.