Data from: Extinction and recolonization of maritime Antarctica in the limpet Nacella concinna (Strebel, 1908) during the last glacial cycle: toward a model of Quaternary biogeography in shallow Antarctic invertebrates

Quaternary glaciations in Antarctica drastically modified geographical
ranges and population sizes of marine benthic invertebrates and thus
affected the amount and distribution of intraspecific genetic variation.
Here, we present new genetic information in the Antarctic limpet Nacella
concinna, a dominant Antarctic benthic species along shallow ice-free
rocky ecosystems. We examined the patterns of genetic diversity and
structure in this broadcast spawner along maritime Antarctica and from the
peri-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Genetic analyses showed that N.
concinna represents a single panmictic unit in maritime Antarctic. Low
levels of genetic diversity characterized this population; its
median-joining haplotype network revealed a typical star-like topology
with a short genealogy and a dominant haplotype broadly distributed. As
previously reported with nuclear markers, we detected significant genetic
differentiation between South Georgia Island and maritime Antarctica
populations. Higher levels of genetic diversity, a more expanded genealogy
and the presence of more private haplotypes support the hypothesis of
glacial persistence in this peri-Antarctic island. Bayesian Skyline plot
and mismatch distribution analyses recognized an older demographic history
in South Georgia. Approximate Bayesian computations did not support the
persistence of N. concinna along maritime Antarctica during the last
glacial period, but indicated the resilience of the species in
peri-Antarctic refugia (South Georgia Island). We proposed a model of
Quaternary Biogeography for Antarctic marine benthic invertebrates with
shallow and narrow bathymetric ranges including (i) extinction of maritime
Antarctic populations during glacial periods; (ii) persistence of
populations in peri-Antarctic refugia; and (iii) recolonization of
maritime Antarctica following the deglaciation process.