DNA barcoding and species delimitation: the Stylodrilus heringianus case (Annelida : Clitellata : Lumbriculidae)

Individuals of the aquatic oligochaete species Stylodrilus heringianus Claparède, 1862 were collected across a part of this species’ distribution range in Sweden, Estonia, Great Britain and Spain to test whether they represent a single metapopulation or several separately evolving lineages. Using sequences of the barcoding gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and two nuclear genes (internal transcribed spacer region and histone 3), three different approaches were conducted: pairwise distance-method, Bayesian inference and network analysis. Both the COI phylogeny and network analyses were concordant in recovering six haplotype clusters, which showed a maximum genetic distance of 7.7% (K2P) among each other. Nevertheless, nuclear genes failed to confirm any lineage separation, and we conclude that the sampled specimens all belong to the same species. A phylogeographic history with allopatric divergence and secondary contact is suggested to explain this intraspecific pattern of mitochondrial divergence and nuclear non-divergence. The study shows that a mitochondrial single-locus approach can be problematic for the accurate delimitation of species, and we emphasise the need for nuclear genes as supplementary markers, when taxonomic resolution is assessed with COI barcodes.

Erséus, Christer,1951Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences(Swepub:gu)xersch (författare)
Göteborgs universitetInstitutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap (creator_code:org_t)

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