Molecular and morphometric combo reveals extraordinary hidden diversity in European polychaetes from the Phyllodocidae family
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1
Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Portugal
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2
Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability, University of Minho, Portugal
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3
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
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4
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Portugal
With the rise of the molecular tools, the combination of both molecular and morphological data is becoming the typical way to describe new species. Over the last decade the diversity of the family Phyllodocidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) increased due to the discovery of multiple species complexes. Polychaetes are one of the most prominent bioindicator groups and well represented class of organisms among the marine benthic invertebrates. However, many of these complexes are not formally described following their discovery, persisting as unnamed species that are seldom recognized in research and conservation programs. Eumida sanguinea was found to be a false cosmopolitan species since Nygren & Pleijel (2011) detected 9 new lineages distributed from the NE Atlantic to the Mediterranean and described 7 of them based on the pigmentation pattern and sequences from mtCOI gene and the nuclear ITS region. Similar to the previous example, Eulalia viridis is now a described complex of two species, but novel molecular data shows an impressive hidden diversity around the European NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean questioning once again the cosmopolitan status of another polychaete species.
True cryptic species have no consistent morphological differences, however some slight dissimilarities in the size and shape of key morphological characters can be further explored by quantitative morphometric analysis to complement the molecular data. Resorting to multivariate statistical analysis and the incorporation of statistical dissimilarities derived from the SIMPER routine of the PRIMER software, we have been able to separate similar species through graphic visual clusters and calculate the proportions of the morphological characters that most contribute to the differences between lineages.
In this study we introduce two new Eumida lineages from Great Britain, by using the mtDNA COI-5P and rDNA ITS/28S sequences, to add to the already large Eumida sanguinea species complex, while complementing it with morphometric data against three other described lineages from the complex. By applying four different MOTU clustering algorithms to the COI-5P sequence data, we also revealed five additional lineages within the Eulalia viridis/clavigera complex with 17.3% mean distance (K2P), where one of the them is exclusive to the Madeira Island (Portugal). In addition, one of the three Mediterranean lineages does not display the characteristic green colour found in the complex and might belong to a new undescribed Eulalia species.
Due to their abundance, cryptic species can in no way be neglected if we want to correctly assess species diversity and distribution, understand biogeographic patterns, or to keep track of natural or anthropogenic induced changes in the marine communities. Hence, since species complexes may have distinct biological characteristics and different sensitivity to pollution and environmental stresses, failure to recognise this hidden biodiversity may compromise the accuracy and the interpretation of biomonitoring, ecotoxicological and bioaccumulation data. DNA barcode data obtained as a concurrent product of the efforts dedicated to the study of cryptic species can also be used in conjunction with high-throughput sequencing technologies for biomonitoring programmes or other relevant ecological researches.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the project The NextSea (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000032), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Marcos A.L.Teixeira benefitted from an FCT fellowship SFRH/BD/131527/2017.
Keywords:
Polychaeta,
cryptic species,
Integrative taxonomy,
DNA barcode,
Morphometrics
Conference:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Ecology, Biodiversity and Vulnerable Ecosystems
Citation:
Teixeira
MA,
Nygren
A,
Ravara
A and
Costa
FO
(2019). Molecular and morphometric combo reveals extraordinary hidden diversity in European polychaetes from the Phyllodocidae family.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00057
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Received:
22 May 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
PhD. Marcos A Teixeira, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, mark-us_teixeira@hotmail.com