Global species delimitation of the cosmopolitan marine littoral earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855)
Seesamut, T.; Oba, Y.; Jirapatrasilp, P.; Martinsson, S.; Lindström, M.; Erséus, C.; Panha, S. (2024). Global species delimitation of the cosmopolitan marine littoral earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855). NPG Scientific Reports 14(1): 1753. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52252-8
In: Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group). Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2045-2322; e-ISSN 2045-2322, more
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| Keywords |
Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Seesamut, T.
- Oba, Y.
- Jirapatrasilp, P.
- Martinsson, S.
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- Lindström, M.
- Erséus, C.
- Panha, S.
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| 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. |
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