Integrative species delimitation in the common ophiuroid Ophiothrix angulata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea): insights from COI, ITS2, arm coloration, and geometric morphometrics

PeerJ. 2023 Jul 17:11:e15655. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15655. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Ophiothrix angulata (Say, 1825) is one of the most common and well-known ophiuroids in the Western Atlantic, with a wide geographic and bathymetric range. The taxonomy of this species has been controversial for a century because of its high morphological variability. Here we integrate information from DNA sequence data, color patterns, and geometric morphometrics to assess species delimitation and geographic differentiation in O. angulata. We found three deeply divergent mtDNA-COI clades (K2P 17.0-27.9%). ITS2 nuclear gene and geometric morphometrics of dorsal and ventral arm plates differentiate one of these lineages, as do integrative species delineation analyses, making this a confirmed candidate species.

Keywords: Caribbean; Coral reefs; Geometrics morphometrics; Gulf of Mexico; Integrative taxonomy; Mitochondrial DNA; Morphology; Nuclear DNA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
  • Echinodermata* / genetics
  • Mitochondria / genetics

Substances

  • DNA, Mitochondrial

Grants and funding

This work was supported by CONACYT scholarship CVU 271645 through the Posgrado de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM, and the Ernst Mayr Grant of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. Sequencing costs were supported by NSF DEB 0529724. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.