Cytogenetic diversity of notothenioid fish from the Ross sea: historical overview and updates

Cytogenetics provides a unique platform to study in situ structural, functional and evolutionary aspects of the genome. As such it holds powerful promise in decoding mechanisms and processes of genome architectural changes and their role in organisms diversification and evolution. Since the early 80s, such an approach has been applied to the study of the Antarctic notothenioid fishes. In almost three decades the cytogenetic information has expanded to cover half of the known species inhabiting the high Antarctic waters. Although started ten years later, cytogenetic studies of species from the Ross sea region have provided valuable contributions to this bulk of knowledge. Here we synthesize the currently available cytogenetic information on Antarctic notothenioid fishes from the Ross Sea Region, inclusive of both conventional karyotyping and gene mapping. In addition, new karyotypic data on four species (Lepidonotothen squamifrons, Trematomus scotti, T. loennbergii and T. lepidorhinus) are provided. In discussing these data, specific focus is made on the patterns and subtleties of cytogenetic diversity at inter- and intra-specific levels aiming at contributing to the refinement of the knowledge of fish diversity in a region, the Ross Sea area, whose primary ecological value is widely recognized.