del Olmo, Irene; Roma-Cavagliani, Josep; Martín-Hervás, María del Rosario; Langeneck, Joachim; Cervera, Juan Lucas; Álvarez-Campos, Patricia. (2024). Integrative taxonomy in Syllis prolifera (Annelida, Syllidae): from a unique cosmopolitan species to a complex of pseudocryptic species. Invertebrate Systematics. 38(6: IS24004): 1-13.

487065

10.1071/is24004 [view]

del Olmo, Irene; Roma-Cavagliani, Josep; Martín-Hervás, María del Rosario; Langeneck, Joachim; Cervera, Juan Lucas; Álvarez-Campos, Patricia

2024

38(6: IS24004): 1-13

Publication

https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/IS24004

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Syllis prolifera (Syllidae, Syllinae) is an abundant species of marine annelids commonly found in warm to temperate waters worldwide. Although morphological variability occurs among populations, S. prolifera has long been considered a cosmopolitan species, widely distributed in coastal environments, including acidified and polluted areas. However, the increasing number of cases of cryptic and pseudocryptic speciation in several polychaete families in recent years has led us to question whether S. prolifera represents a single globally distributed taxon or is a species complex. To address this question, we conducted an integrative study, combining morphological, ecological and molecular data of 52 S. prolifera specimens collected in different localities across the western Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Cadiz. Our phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses that included two mitochondrial DNA markers (COI and 16S rRNA) were congruent in not considering S. prolifera a unique entity. Five distinct lineages that can also be recognised by certain morphological and ecological traits were identified from these analyses instead. Overall, our study does not support the homogeneity of S. prolifera across the Mediterranean Sea, providing a new example of pseudocrypticism in marine invertebrates.

Mediterranean Sea in general

Molecular systematics, Molecular biology
Systematics, Taxonomy

Annelida
Polychaeta

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