Extensive collections of fossil decapod crustaceans, which were made on Seymour Island, Antarctica, during the 1986-1987 field season, permit continuation and extension of research on the paleobiology of this group throughout the southern high latitude region. These specimens extend the distribution of decapods in Late Cretaceous-Paleocene, making it possible to test the extent to which the terminal Cretaceous extinction event effected decapod faunas in high latitude regions. Because several new, or recently described taxa are ancestral to modern deep-water forms, it is also possible to determine whether the organisms possess similar reproductive strategies which may have served equally well as an adaptation to deep-water and high latitude shallow-water habitats. Further, the extended information regarding the distribution of decapods from Seymour Island can be coupled with data derived from detailed collecting of sites in New Zealand, containing comparable faunas, to further expand our knowledge of the biogeographic distribution of Southern Hemisphere forms.
