Digging the diversity of Iberian bait worms Marphysa (Annelida, Eunicidae)

Daniel Martin; João Gil; Joana Zanol; Miguel A Meca; Rocío Pérez Portela

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226749

Digging the diversity of Iberian bait worms Marphysa (Annelida, Eunicidae)

PLoS One. 2020 Jan 22;15(1):e0226749. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226749. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Daniel Martin¹, João Gil², Joana Zanol³, Miguel A Meca^{1

4}, Rocío Pérez Portela⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Catalunya, Spain.
² Centre of Marine Sciences, CCMAR, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal.
³ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Departamento de Invertebrados, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁵ Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.

Abstract

During a visit to polychaete-rearing facilities in the vicinity of Bay of Cádiz (SW Iberian Peninsula, Atlantic Ocean), we sampled two populations of Marphysa (Annelida, Eunicidae) originally occurring at nearby intertidal soft bottoms, one being more than twice as long as the other at the same age. We analysed them using partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes, 16S rDNA and Cytochrome Oxidase I, and classical morphological observations. Our molecular results confirmed that the two populations corresponded to two different species, with PTP species delimitation values ranging from 0.973 (long-bodied species) to 0.999 (short-bodied species). Morphologically, the short-bodied species resembles the recently redescribed M. sanguinea (Montagu, 1813), but differs mainly in having some parapodia with two subacicular hooks (one bidentate and one unidentate) and three types of pectinate chaetae, Two isodont present all along the body, and one particularly large anodont asymmetric appearing only from mid-posterior parapodia. The long-bodied species resembles Marphysa aegypti Elgetany, El-Ghobashy, Ghoneim and Struck, 2018 both in size and in having very robust, unidentate subacicular hooks (single in most parapodia, two-both similar in size and form-in some posterior parapodia), but differs, among other features, in the maxillary formula, the number of acicula per parapodia and the number and shape of pectinate chaetae. Accordingly, we are here fully illustrating and formally describing the two Iberian populations as Marphysa gaditana sp. nov. (short-bodied) and Marphysa chirigota sp. nov. (long-bodied) and we are emending the description of M. aegypti based on our revision of the type material. Also, we discuss on the distribution of the species of the sanguinea-group and on the relevancy of taxonomically robust studies when dealing with species of commercial interest having the potential of being globally spread through human activities, as well as on the misunderstandings caused by the incorrect use of the "cosmopolitan species" concept.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Annelida / classification*
Annelida / genetics*
Biodiversity*
DNA, Ribosomal / genetics*
Genes, Mitochondrial*
Phylogeny
Spain

Substances

DNA, Ribosomal

Grants and funding

This study received funds from the Linnean Society of London and the Systematics Association through the 2915 Systematics Research Fund call. The project funded was entitled “Cryptic Fish Baits.” DM received funding from the Consolidated Research Group on Marine Benthic Ecology, Generalitat de Catalunya (http://agaur.gencat.cat), grant 2017SGR378 and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (http://www.ciencia.gob.es/portal/site/MICINN/aei), EuropeanRegional Development Fund (FEDER) (https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/erdf/), grant CTM2017–88080 / PopCOmics. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.