Phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic revision of the order Mysidacea, Crustacea. Including new deep-sea mysid species from the .., Postdr.

Discovery of several species new to science of the crustacean order Mysidacea are reported from the Iceland Basin. Preliminary results suggest establishment of one new genus and 8-11 new species. Close morphological similarities between these new species with Antarctic mysids suggest a common ancestry and a possible recent divergence between Antarctic and North Atlantic mysids. To establish hypotheses on historical relationships between these apparently isolated biogeographic regions, taxonomic descriptio ns will be required. Recent investigations concerning mysid systematics and evolution, approached through studies of molecular phylogenetic relationships, clearly challenges the current classification of the Mysidacea. These studies indicate that the taxonomy of Mysidacea is largely based on phenotypic similarities that does not depict evolutionary relationships. Although these studies have provided the phylogenetic framework needed for further understanding of mysid evolution, sugges revisions are still in need of more evidence. This is largely due to the fact that several of the higher-level Mysidacea taxa are in need of wider sampling that include other gene regions. The proposed project will address this problem in an extended anal ysis of the Mysidacea where molecular phylogenies will be used to infer morphology that will be implemented in a revised taxonomy of the order Mysidacea.