We have published the first world scale map of marine biogeographic realms based on empirical data analysis of the distribution of 65,000 species (Costello et al. 2017). Realms are geographic areas with a high proportion of species that only occur within them (i.e. endemic species). They represent the biogeographic consequences of speciation and dispersal of
Studying the observations of scuba divers as part of the Reef Life Survey programme, a recent paper has found striking latitudinal gradients in the relative abundance of fish and large mobile invertebrates, such as crabs, starfish, sea urchins and octopus (Edgar et al. 2017). Fish dominated tropical ecosystems, but in cold water latitudes they were
A global analysis of the biogeography of species richness in razor clams (Solenidae) found the number of species was highest in the northern hemisphere, and dipped at the equator with a smaller peak in the southern hemisphere (Saeedi et al. 2016). Thus Chaudhary et al. (2016) reviewed previous studies and found that almost all latitudinal
Basher and Hanieh modelled the likely change in species ranges due to climate warming. Both found species likely to expand their ranges by moving into areas previously too cold for them. Decapod shrimps are widely distributed around Antarctica. The deep-sea Antarctic shrimp Nematocarcinus lanceopes was predicted to have moved its distribution pole-wards since the Last
In the past year, our research has found that there are more marine species in shallow tropical seas than in colder latitudes and the deep-sea. However, we were surprised to find that previous research had overlooked that the number of species dips at the equator. Then we found that over the past century, this dip
For decades, the idea that the deep-sea may contain a huge diversity of yet to be discovered species has sometimes been stated as a fact. The “stability hypothesis” suggests that it is environmental stability, as occurs in the tropics, allows species to diversify. Numerous graphs of species richness with depth, for different taxa at different
Two new papers published this week: Pamungkas, J. (2017). Capitella ambonensis: a new polychaete species (Annelida: Capitellidae) collected from a mangrove habitat on Ambon Island, Indonesia. Zootaxa 4227 (4): 573-582. McLeod LE, Costello MJ. 2017. Light traps for marine biodiversity sampling. Helgoland Marine Research 71: 2. DOI 10.1186/s10152-017-0483-1
Congratulations to Basher. His PhD paper on how seabed living shrimp may have changed their geographic distribution during the last glaciation to today, and may change again due to climate warming, was the second most highly cited marine biology paper in PeerJ in 2016. Basher Z, Costello MJ. 2016. The past, present and future distribution
