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The validity of morphology-based species boundaries between the southern African representatives of the genus Tricolia Risso, 1826 was assessed using mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA sequence data. Most phylogenies obtained from individual and combined genetic datasets recovered 10 of the southern African members of the genus as a monophyletic clade. No COI sequences of the 11th species (T. adusta) were available, but this species clustered among the other African species in the 16S rRNA phylogeny. Discrepancies between morphology and genetics were identified in two clades within which there was limited genetic variation and no differentiation between two groups of nominal species, comprising respectively T. africana (Bartsch, 1915) and T. capensis (Dunker, 1846), and T. bicarinata (Dunker, 1846), T. insignis (Turton, 1932) and T. kraussi (Smith, 1911). In both cases the distributions of the nominal taxa coincide with well-known biogeographic disjunctions, and there is evidence of overlapping and intergrading shell characters. We propose that both of these unresolved clades be recognized as single, phenotypically plastic species, for which the oldest available names are respectively T. capensis and T. bicarinata. Despite the resultant reduction in number of recognized species, the phasianellid fauna of southern Africa remains the most diverse in the world, with 10 endemic species and 3 tropical species extending south into KwaZulu-Natal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern African marine realm is located at the transition zone between the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific biomes. Its biodiversity is particularly rich and comprises faunal and floral elements from the two major oceanic regions, as well as a large number of endemics. Within this realm, strikingly different biota occur in close geographic proximity to each other, and many of the species with distributions spanning two or more of the region's marine biogeographic provinces are divided into evolutionary units that can often only be distinguished on the basis of genetic data. In this review, we describe the state of marine phylogeography in southern Africa, that is, the study of evolutionary relationships at the species level, or amongst closely related species, in relation to the region's marine environment. We focus particularly on coastal phylogeography, where much progress has recently been made in identifying phylogeographic breaks and explaining how they originated and are maintained. We also highlight numerous shortcomings that should be addressed in the near future. These include: the limited data available for commercially important organisms, particularly offshore species; the paucity of oceanographic data for nearshore areas; a dearth of studies based on multilocus data; and the fact that studying the role of diversifying selection in speciation has been limited to physiological approaches to the exclusion of genetics. It is becoming apparent that the southern African marine realm is one of the world's most interesting environments in which to study the evolutionary processes that shape not only regional, but also global patterns of marine biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]