Biogeography of Antarctic sea anemones (Anthozoa, Actiniaria): What do they tell us about the origin of the Antarctic benthic fauna?

29 pages, 11 figures, 7 tablesThe present study of the biogeography of the Antarctic sea anemone fauna is based on new records and redescriptions of material collected from the Weddell Sea and Peninsula Antarctica, and on an update of the bibliographic data of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. The faunal compositions at different levels, the geographic and bathymetric distributions of the sea anemone fauna, and the affinities within the continent and with the sub-Antarctic fauna have been studied. Furthermore, the relationships of the sea anemone fauna, of the Southern Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and Hawaii have been analysed. In this context, the origin of the Antarctic benthic fauna is discussedSupport was provided by a MCT-CSIC grant (I3P-BPD2001-1) to E. Rodríguez, and Spanish CICYT projects: ANT97-1533-E, ANT98-1739-E, ANT99-1608-E, REN2001-4269-E/ANT, and CGL2004-20141-E. Additional support was provided by Tree of Life project (NSF 0531763 to M. Daly)Peer reviewe