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Delrieu-Trottin E, Hartmann-Salvo H, Saenz-Agudelo P, Landaeta MF, Pérez-Matus A. DNA reconciles morphology and colouration in the drunk blenny genus Scartichthys (Teleostei: Blenniidae) and provides insights into their evolutionary history. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2022; 100:507-518. [PMID: 34821381 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The blenniids of the genus Scartichthys are one of the most common fishes of Central and South American Pacific coastal reefs. This being said, Scartichthys spp. remain difficult to identify in the field, and identification is particularly challenging across the c. 6000 km where three of the four currently accepted species are known to occur in sympatry. A reason for this is that the main taxonomic characters from traditional taxonomy are indeed elusive. In addition, at the same time, species can display multiple colour patterns in the field, depending on their ontogenetic stage, habitat association and reproductive behaviour. Overall, molecular characterization is warranted to help address these issues. In this study, the authors have used a novel approach to revise the genus by combining colouration, morphological and molecular data of representative specimens of the four currently valid species and seven described colour patterns. From this, the authors show that only three of the four species should be considered as valid; Scartichthys gigas (Steindachner, 1876), Scartichthys variolatus (Valenciennes, 1836) and Scartichthys viridis (Valenciennes, 1836), whereas Scartichthys crapulatus (Williams, 1990) should be synonymized with S. viridis. In the same way, the analyses in this study show that one of the colour patterns attributed so far only to S. gigas is characteristic of the juvenile stages of S. viridis. The time-calibrated phylogeny of this study shows that this genus is relatively young and that the estimated time of divergence between S. gigas and S. viridis is c. 1.71 Ma. In comparison, the Desventuradas and Juan Fernandez Islands endemic S. variolatus diverged c. 1.95 Ma. The results of this study help to clarify the taxonomy of Scartichthys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erwan Delrieu-Trottin
- ISEM, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier cedex 5, France
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE-PSL University, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Hans Hartmann-Salvo
- Subtidal Ecology Laboratory, Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Pablo Saenz-Agudelo
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas (ICAEV), Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus for Ecology and Conservation of Temperate Mesophotic Reef Ecosystem (NUTME)
| | - Mauricio F Landaeta
- Millennium Nucleus for Ecology and Conservation of Temperate Mesophotic Reef Ecosystem (NUTME)
- Laboratorio de Ictioplancton (LABITI), Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
- Centro de Observación Marino para Estudios del Ambiente Costero (COSTA-R), Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Matus
- Subtidal Ecology Laboratory, Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus for Ecology and Conservation of Temperate Mesophotic Reef Ecosystem (NUTME)
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Gutow L, Poore AGB, Díaz Poblete MA, Villalobos V, Thiel M. Small burrowing amphipods cause major damage in a large kelp. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200330. [PMID: 32345163 PMCID: PMC7282921 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Large herbivores such as sea urchins and fish consume a high proportion of benthic primary production and frequently control the biomass of marine macrophytes. By contrast, small mesograzers, including gastropods and peracarid crustaceans, are abundant on seaweeds but have low per capita feeding rates and their impacts on marine macrophytes are difficult to predict. To quantify how mesograzers can affect macrophytes, we examined feeding damage by the herbivorous amphipods Sunamphitoe lessoniophila and Bircenna sp., which construct burrows in the stipes of subtidal individuals of the kelp Lessonia berteroana in northern-central Chile, southeast Pacific. Infested stipes showed a characteristic sequence of progressive tissue degeneration. The composition of the amphipod assemblages inside the burrows varied between the different stages of infestation of the burrows. Aggregations of grazers within burrows and microhabitat preference of the amphipods result in localized feeding, leading to stipe breakage and loss of substantial algal biomass. The estimated loss of biomass of single stipes varied between 1 and 77%. For the local kelp population, the amphipods caused an estimated loss of biomass of 24-44%. Consequently, small herbivores can cause considerable damage to large kelp species if their feeding activity is concentrated on structurally valuable algal tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Gutow
- Department of Functional Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Alistair G. B. Poore
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | | | - Vieia Villalobos
- Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile
| | - Martin Thiel
- Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus of Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Islands (ESMOI), Coquimbo, Chile
- Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile
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