| Summary: | The Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki (Smith, 1902), is relevant to several areas of ecology. A. colbecki has a circumpolar distribution from 3 to nearly 1500 meters depth and can be used to compare nearshore and deep sea habitats. The Antarctic scallop has abundant nearshore populations which remain unexploited and are valuable in the development of living resource conservation strategies. At New Harbor, Antarctica, the size frequency distribution and biomass of A. colbecki have remained relatively unchanged during this decade and may provide a basis for assessing the stability of this population. Seasonal meltwater production from the sea ice and glaciers surrounding New Harbor can influence the growth, recruitment, movement and survival of A. colbecki during the austral summer. The relative zonation of A. colbecki populations along with other Antarctic nearshore benthic assemblages, may be related to changes in the volume of meltwater produced along the continental margin of Antarctica over time scales from hundreds to thousands of years. A. colbecki may be a relict species in the Southern Ocean and a window into the evolution of the Antarctic benthos.
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