{"title":"Genetic Determination of a Cryptic Species in the Littoraria Genus With Whole-Genome Molecular Resolution","authors":"Jia-Wei Xu, Jie Wang, Yun-Wei Dong","doi":"10.1002/ece3.70715","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recognizing cryptic species is crucial for understanding global biodiversity. The intertidal snail <i>Littoraria flammea</i> is potentially a cryptic species of <i>L. melanostoma</i> widely distributed in the Northwest Pacific. However, the evidence from traditional morphology and single genetic markers is inconsistent. Our study combined quantitative morphological and whole-genome molecular data to clarify the phylogenetic relationship of three species (<i>L. flammea</i>, <i>L.</i> aff. <i>melanostoma</i>, and <i>L. melanostoma</i>). Three-dimensional models of shells revealed significant differences in morphology between <i>L. flammea</i> and <i>L. melanostoma</i>. Neutral SNPs indicated that individuals of <i>L. flammea</i> and <i>L. melanostoma</i> were in different clusters. The ratio of interspecific <i>F</i><sub>ST</sub> to intraspecific <i>F</i><sub>ST</sub> between <i>L. flammea</i> and <i>L. melanostoma</i> (16) was much larger than the lowest ratio (2.31) in six published genera with cryptic species in gastropods. Non-neutral SNPs disclosed divergence in functional genes related to reproduction and protein binding. The morphological and phylogenetic analyses corroborated the transitional status of <i>L.</i> aff. <i>melanostoma</i>. These results confirmed that the <i>L. flammea</i> snails north of the Yangtze River Estuary is a cryptic species of <i>L. melanostoma</i>, and allopatric speciation occurs in the <i>L. melanostoma</i> complex.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"14 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11631568/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecology and Evolution","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.70715","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recognizing cryptic species is crucial for understanding global biodiversity. The intertidal snail Littoraria flammea is potentially a cryptic species of L. melanostoma widely distributed in the Northwest Pacific. However, the evidence from traditional morphology and single genetic markers is inconsistent. Our study combined quantitative morphological and whole-genome molecular data to clarify the phylogenetic relationship of three species (L. flammea, L. aff. melanostoma, and L. melanostoma). Three-dimensional models of shells revealed significant differences in morphology between L. flammea and L. melanostoma. Neutral SNPs indicated that individuals of L. flammea and L. melanostoma were in different clusters. The ratio of interspecific FST to intraspecific FST between L. flammea and L. melanostoma (16) was much larger than the lowest ratio (2.31) in six published genera with cryptic species in gastropods. Non-neutral SNPs disclosed divergence in functional genes related to reproduction and protein binding. The morphological and phylogenetic analyses corroborated the transitional status of L. aff. melanostoma. These results confirmed that the L. flammea snails north of the Yangtze River Estuary is a cryptic species of L. melanostoma, and allopatric speciation occurs in the L. melanostoma complex.
期刊介绍:
Ecology and Evolution is the peer reviewed journal for rapid dissemination of research in all areas of ecology, evolution and conservation science. The journal gives priority to quality research reports, theoretical or empirical, that develop our understanding of organisms and their diversity, interactions between them, and the natural environment.
Ecology and Evolution gives prompt and equal consideration to papers reporting theoretical, experimental, applied and descriptive work in terrestrial and aquatic environments. The journal will consider submissions across taxa in areas including but not limited to micro and macro ecological and evolutionary processes, characteristics of and interactions between individuals, populations, communities and the environment, physiological responses to environmental change, population genetics and phylogenetics, relatedness and kin selection, life histories, systematics and taxonomy, conservation genetics, extinction, speciation, adaption, behaviour, biodiversity, species abundance, macroecology, population and ecosystem dynamics, and conservation policy.