Abstract
The toothed barnacle Chthamalus dentatus has a wide distribution in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Africa, ostensibly occurring from Madagascar and Mozambique in the West Indian Ocean to Senegal in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. We studied the differences in the mitochondrial COI gene of 287 individuals from 15 different locations and found that this taxon, which morphologically is considered a single species, actually compromises three genetically distinct clades–the South African, the Namibian, and the Cameroonian. The genetic differences between these units are similar or larger than those found between different species of Chthamalus. We suggest that the nominal species C. dentatus is a cluster of three cryptic species. These cryptic species are separated by a series of upwelling systems that are likely to act as barriers to the distribution of propagules of C. dentatus. Based on molecular and morphological data, we indicate that C. dentatus is probably a close relative of the Caribbean and Central American species of Chthamalus.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 327-341 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Marine Biology Research |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 6-7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
We thank Professor George Branch of the Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Mr. Aiden Biccard of Anchor Environmental Consultants (Pty), Cape Town, Dr. David Glassom of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, and Professor John Wares of the Department of Genetics, University of Georgia–for providing samples of Chthamalus dentatus used in the present study. Dr. Yaakov Langzam of the E-SEM Unit, the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Material, Bar-Ilan University, helped prepare samples for the E-SEM. Dr. Irit Shoval and Dr. Avi Jacob of the Unit of Light Microscopy, the Mina and Evrard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, assisted with the preparation of the microphotographs. We thank Ms. Yael Laure for helping in editing and improving this manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Material | |
| Mina and Evrard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University | |
| University of Georgia | |
| Bar-Ilan University | |
| Inyuvesi Yakwazulu-Natali |
Keywords
- Benguela current
- COI
- Chthamalus
- Lüderitz upwelling cell
- cryptic species
- oceanic barriers
- speciation
- upwelling