Background: The freshwater species on Taiwan Island have been documented to have originated from mainland China and the Japanese islands from multiple events and by multiple colonization routes. Moreover, the sequences from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) have been used for DNA barcoding to identify the species. This study used the COI sequences to identify Neocaridina species in Taiwan and to examine their geographical and temporal origins.
Results: In total, 479 specimens were collected from 35 localities, which covered almost all rivers in Taiwan. In addition, some sequences were downloaded from GenBank. The maximum likelihood (ML) tree displayed that all sequences were sorted into 13 taxa (clades), and all sequences in Taiwan were sorted into four clades. The Bayesian skyline plots revealed that these four Neocaridina species have declined recently in Taiwan.
Conclusions: All results support that (1) there are four Neocaridina species in Taiwan, which are N. davidi, N. saccam, N. ketagalan and an undescribed Neocaridina species (N. sp.); (2) these four species colonized Taiwan Island in four colonization events; (3) N. sp. colonized Taiwan first; (4) after the island reached its shape, N. ketagalan and N. saccam colonized Taiwan from the Japanese islands and mainland China, respectively; (5) N. davidi colonized northern Taiwan last; and (6) the cyclic glacial and landform changes in East Asia shaped the colonization events and population structures of the Neocaridina species.
Keywords: Approximate Bayesian computation; DNA barcoding; Neocaridina; Origin; Phylogeography.