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Global species delimitation of the cosmopolitan marine littoral earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855).
- Source :
-
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2024 Jan 19; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 1753. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 19. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- The marine littoral earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) is widely distributed and is reported as a single species. This study utilized an integrative taxonomic approach based upon morphological examination, phylogenetic reconstruction, and molecular species delimitation, to test whether the taxon is a single species or a species complex. For this, a total of 114 P. litoralis specimens collected from North America, Africa, Australia and Oceania, Europe and Asia were used. The phylogenetic analyses revealed deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages and a high level of genetic diversity among P. litoralis populations. Both single and multi-locus species delimitation analyses yielded several molecular operational taxonomic units. Therefore, due to the homogeneity of morphological characteristics, it is likely that the morphospecies P. litoralis is a complex of four or more cryptic species, suggesting that more sampling is required and that the population structure genetic data and gene flow need to be investigated.<br /> (© 2024. The Author(s).)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Phylogeny
Mitochondria
Asia
Australia
Oligochaeta genetics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2045-2322
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Scientific reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38243053
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52252-8