Arango C.P., Soler-Membrives A. & Miller K.J. 2010. Genetic differentiation in the circum-Antarctic sea spider Nymphon australe (Pycnogonida;Nymphonidae). Deep-Sea Research II. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.05.019.
Arnaud F. & Bamber R.N. 1987. The biology of Pycnogonida. Advances in Marine Biology 24, 1–95.
Child C.A. 1995. Antarctic and Subantarctic Pycnogonida: Nymphonidae, Colossendeidae, Rhynchothoraxidae, Pycnogonidae, Endeididae, and Callipallenidae. In: S.D. Cairns (Ed.) Biology of the Antarctic Seas XXIV. Antarctic Research Series 69, pp. 165.
Munilla T. & Soler-Membrives A. Check-list of the pycnogonids from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic water: zoogeographic implications. Antarctic Science 21, 99-111.
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Species distribution
N. australe has a circumpolar distribution, but it is found also in more temperate zones as New Zealand, Falkland Islands, off the coast of Chile and Argentina, and Southern Indian Ocean (Child, 1995).
Nymphon australe is the most frequently collected of all pycnogonid species in Antarctic area (Munilla & Soler-Membrives, 2009) and in the highest numbers (Arango et al, 2010). It is considered circumpolar and eurybathic, found in most Antarctic and subantarctic benthic collections. As most of pycnogonids Nymphon australe lacks a planktonic stage (Arnaud & Bamber, 1987).
Thus, it is of interest to understand how these marine organisms with an apparent limited dispersal capacity have achieved such wide geographical and bathymetric distributions. N. australe is classified within a group of Southern Ocean species of Nymphon sharing few morphological characters such as inflated ovigers, a robust body and setae present on trunk and legs. This group of species or 'australe-complex', is to be tested in a phylogenetic context using both morphology and molecular data to understand the diversification of the group, their relationships to other Antarctic (~60 spp.) species and also the evolutionary history of the cosmopolitan Nymphon (~270 spp.) (Arango et al., 2010).
