| Summary: | Amphipods are the most speciose animal group in the Southern Ocean, with more than 850 described species (De Broyer et al. 2007). They are present at all depths, in all environments and occupy a large range of trophic niches. However, many species are inadequately described, the number of undescribed morphospecies is very high and recently molecular studies revealed the presence of morphospecies composed of genetically heterogeneous species complexes with allo- and sympatric distributions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more in-depth studies on the morphological and molecular systematics and phylogeography of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic amphipods. Specific topics which will be addressed are: (i) to document and compare the faunistical, zoogoegraphical and ecological traits of amphipod taxocoenoses from different areas of the western part of the Southern Ocean, (ii) to contribute to the description of the Antarctic amphipod biodiversity, with a special focus on the Lysianassoidea, Eusiridae and Liljeborgidae, (iii) to use genetic markers for revealing cryptic biodiversity, to measure the intra- and interpopulation genetic variability and to compare the phylogeography of target taxa, with high and low dispersal capacities (benthopelagic vs. crawling amphipods), (iv) to document the level of genetic isolation and cryptic endemism in amphipod crustaceans from different areas of the continental and insular shelf of the Antarctic, with the hypothesis of genetic isolation in refuges during the Cenozoic glaciations as background, (v) to contribute to the SCAR-MarBIN database in bringing a new dataset of distributional, ecological and photographic information on Antarctic amphipods.
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