A mega-cryptic species complex hidden among one of the most common annelids in the North East Atlantic

Arne Nygren; Julio Parapar; Joan Pons; Karin Meißner; Torkild Bakken; Jon Anders Kongsrud; Eivind Oug; Daria Gaeva; Andrey Sikorski; Robert André Johansen; Pat Ann Hutchings; Nicolas Lavesque; Maria Capa

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0198356

A mega-cryptic species complex hidden among one of the most common annelids in the North East Atlantic

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 20;13(6):e0198356. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198356. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Arne Nygren^{1

2}, Julio Parapar³, Joan Pons⁴, Karin Meißner⁵, Torkild Bakken⁶, Jon Anders Kongsrud⁷, Eivind Oug⁸, Daria Gaeva⁹, Andrey Sikorski¹⁰, Robert André Johansen¹¹, Pat Ann Hutchings¹², Nicolas Lavesque¹³, Maria Capa^{6

14}

Affiliations

¹ Sjöfartmuseet Akvariet, Göteborg, Sweden.
² Institutionen för marina vetenskaper, Göteborgs Universitet, Göteborg, Sweden.
³ Departamento de Bioloxía, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña, Spain.
⁴ Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, IMEDEA, Balearic Islands, Spain.
⁵ Senckenberg Forschungsinstitute und Naturmuseun, German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research, Hamburg, Germany.
⁶ Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway.
⁷ Department of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Region South, Grimstad, Norway.
⁹ Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
¹⁰ Akvaplan-niva AS, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway.
¹¹ Institute of Marine Research, Tromsø, Norway.
¹² Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique & Université de Bordeaux, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Station Marine d'Arcachon, Arcachon, France.
¹⁴ University of the Balearic Island, Department of Biology, Ctra. Valldemossa, Balearic Islands, Spain.

Abstract

We investigate mitochondrial (COI, 16S rDNA) and nuclear (ITS2, 28S rDNA) genetic structure of North East Atlantic lineages of Terebellides, a genus of sedentary annelids mainly inhabiting continental shelf and slope sediments. We demonstrate the presence of more than 25 species of which only seven are formally described. Species boundaries are determined with molecular data using a broad range of analytical methods. Many of the new species are common and wide spread, and the majority of the species are found in sympatry with several other species in the complex. Being one of the most regularly encountered annelid taxa in the North East Atlantic, it is more likely to find an undescribed species of Terebellides than a described one.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Nucleus / genetics*
DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics*
DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
Electron Transport Complex IV / genetics
Phylogeny
Polychaeta / anatomy & histology
Polychaeta / classification*
Polychaeta / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods*

Substances

DNA, Mitochondrial
DNA, Ribosomal
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
Electron Transport Complex IV

Grants and funding

Financial support was provided by the Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative [http://www.biodiversity.no/Pages/135523] to AN (Cryptic polychaete species in Norwegian waters, knr 49-13, pnr 70184228), to EO, TB and JAK (Polychaetes in Skagerrak, knr 53-09, pnr 70184216), to TB, EO and JAK (Polychaetes in the Norwegian Sea, knr 55-12, pnr 70184227); and by the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative [https://www.artdatabanken.se/en/the-swedish-taxonomy-initiative/] (Polychaete species complexes in Swedish waters, dnr 140/07 1.4 and 166/08 1.4), and Kungliga Fysiografiska sällskapet Nilsson-Ehle donationerna [https://www.fysiografen.se/sv/] to AN; and by the ForBio Research School funded by the Research Council of Norway [https://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Home_page/1177315753906] (project no. 248799) and the Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative (pnr 70184215) and the Ramon y Cajal program (RYC-2016-20799) funded by Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Comunidad Autónoma de las Islas Baleares and the European Social Fund to MC; and by Akvaplan Niva [http://www.akvaplan.niva.no/en/] to AS and JP. Publication fees were covered by NTNU's [https://www.ntnu.no/] Publishing Fund to MC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.