Abstract
Included among the currently recognized 23 species of combtooth blennies of the genus Cirripectes (Blenniiformes: Blenniidae) of the Indo-Pacific are the Hawaiian endemic C. vanderbilti, and the widespread C. variolosus. During the course of a phylogeographic study of these species, a third species was detected, herein described as C. matatakaro. The new species is distinguished primarily by the configuration of the pore structures posterior to the lateral centers of the transverse row of nuchal cirri in addition to 12 meristic characters and nine morphometric characters documented across 72 specimens and ∼4.2% divergence in mtDNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I. The new species is currently known only from the Marquesas, Gambier, Pitcairns, Tuamotus, and Australs in the South Pacific, and the Northern Line Islands and possibly Johnston Atoll south of Hawai'i. Previous researchers speculated that the geographically widespread C. variolosus was included in an unresolved trichotomy with the Hawaiian endemic and other species based on a morphological phylogeny. Our molecular-phylogenetic analysis resolves many of the previously unresolved relationships within the genus and reveals C. matatakaro as the sister lineage to the Hawaiian C. vanderbilti. The restricted geographic distribution of Cirripectes matatakaro combines with its status as sister to C. vanderbilti to indicate a southern pathway of colonization into Hawai'i.
Keywords:
Blenniidae; Cirripectes; Cryptobenthic; Endemism; Hawaii; Indo-Pacific; Kiribati; New species; Phylogeography; Taxonomy.
©2020 Hoban and Williams.
Grants and funding
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1329626 and an internship provided through the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Office of Internships & Fellowships. Mykle Hoban was also supported by a Graduate Traineeship funded by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Project R/HE-31, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, SOEST, under Institutional Grant No. NA18OAR4170076 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. UNIHI-SEAGRANT-JC-18-18. Mykle Hoban received research support from the Colonel Willys E. Lord & Sandina L. Lord Endowed Scholarship and The Explorers Club Exploration Fund Grant. DNA data production and field work were supported by the National Science Foundation (OCE-1558852 to B.W. Bowen), and University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. The work of Jeffrey T. Williams in French Polynesia was made possible by invitations from Rene Galzin and Serge Planes to participate in expeditions that were financially supported by the French National Agency for Marine Protected Area in France (‘Pakaihi I Te Moana’ expedition), the ANR IMODEL and Contrat de Projet Etat-Territoire in French Polynesia and the French Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Transport (MEDDTL) (‘CORALSPOT’ expeditions), and the Living Oceans Foundation (‘Australs’ expedition). Additional funding was provided by the IFRECOR in French Polynesia and the TOTAL Foundation. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.