Living Large, Facing Heat: Adaptation, Acclimation, and Vulnerability of Antarctic Marine Invertebrates

The Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctic contains the coldest and most thermally stable waters on Earth, and supports a diverse and highly endemic fauna that has evolved under these conditions for millions of years. Many unusual phenomena like gigantism, anti-freeze capacity, extraordinarily long development, and stenothermality have been described in Antarctic marine ecotherms; however, the region’s remoteness, harsh environmental conditions, and long periods of seasonal ice cover make it a challenging environment to study. This talk presents findings from over a decade of research beneath Antarctic ice, focusing on stenothermality, the evolutionary drivers of polar gigantism, and the capacity of Antarctic marine invertebrates to cope with changing oceans.