BIOGEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY

The biogeographically 'open' nature of marine systems is discussed. Na rrow endemism is demonstrated in crustacean taxa with planktotrophic l arvae, as well as in those with benthic recruitment. A close similarit y is demonstrated between the endemicity on islands of shallow-water m arine amphipods and that of terrestrial plants. Using comparable colle cting techniques, the marine amphipod diversity of tropical lagoons (i n Papua New Guinea and in New Caledonia), with different evolutionary histories for c. 60 Ma, was compared. Whilst only about 20% of the spe cies were common to the two lagoons, the number of species collected a nd the family species richness was strikingly similar. This suggests t he existence of evolutionary 'assembly rules'. There is a weak correla tion between amphipod species richness and family richness for a given area. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.