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Not out of the Mediterranean: Atlantic populations of the gorgonian Paramuricea clavata are a separate sister species under further lineage diversification
  • +14
  • Márcio Coelho,
  • Gareth Pearson,
  • Joana Boavida,
  • Diogo Paulo,
  • Didier Aurelle,
  • Sophie Arnaud-Haond,
  • Daniel Gómez-Gras,
  • Nathaniel Bensoussan,
  • Paula López-Sendino,
  • Carlo Cerrano,
  • Silvija Kipson,
  • Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli,
  • Eliana Ferretti,
  • Cristina Linares,
  • Joaquim Garrabou,
  • Ester Serrão,
  • Jean-Baptiste Ledoux
Márcio Coelho
Algarve Centre of Marine Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gareth Pearson
CCMAR-CIMAR
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Joana Boavida
Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO,
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Diogo Paulo
Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of Algarve
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Didier Aurelle
Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO
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Sophie Arnaud-Haond
Ifremer
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Daniel Gómez-Gras
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)
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Nathaniel Bensoussan
Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO
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Paula López-Sendino
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)
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Carlo Cerrano
Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa)
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Silvija Kipson
University of Zagreb Department of Biology
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Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli
University of Zagreb Department of Biology
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Eliana Ferretti
Studio Associato GAIA s.n.c.
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Cristina Linares
Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona
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Joaquim Garrabou
Institut de Ciències del Mar CSIC
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Ester Serrão
Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of Algarve
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Jean-Baptiste Ledoux
ICM
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Abstract

The accurate delimitation of species boundaries in non-bilaterian marine taxa is notoriously difficult, with consequences for many studies in ecology and evolution. Anthozoans are a diverse group of key structural organisms worldwide, but the lack of reliable morphological characters and informative genetic markers hampers our ability to understand species diversification. We investigated population differentiation and species limits in Atlantic (Iberian Peninsula) and Mediterranean lineages of the octocoral genus Paramuricea previously identified as P. clavata. We used a diverse set of molecular markers (microsatellites, RNA-seq derived single-copy orthologues [SCO] and mt-mutS [mitochondria]) at 49 locations. Clear segregation of Atlantic and Mediterranean lineages was found with all markers. Species-tree estimations based on SCO strongly supported these two clades as distinct, recently diverged sister species with incomplete lineage sorting, P. cf. grayi and P. clavata, respectively. Furthermore, a second putative (or ongoing) speciation event was detected in the Atlantic between two P. cf. grayi colour morphotypes (yellow and purple) using SCO and supported by microsatellites. While segregating P. cf. grayi lineages showed considerable geographic structure, dominating circalittoral communities in southern (yellow) and western (purple) Portugal, their occurrence in sympatry at some localities suggests a degree of reproductive isolation. Overall, our results show that previous molecular and morphological studies have underestimated species diversity in Paramuricea occurring in the Iberian Peninsula, which has important implications for conservation planning. Finally, our findings validate the usefulness of phylotranscriptomics for resolving evolutionary relationships in octocorals.