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Stargazing under the sea: molecular and morphological data reveal a constellation of species in the Berthella stellata (Risso, 1826) species complex (Mollusca, Heterobranchia, Pleurobranchidae)

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Abstract

Molecular and morphological evidence support the view that the widely distributed species Berthella stellata (Risso, 1826) is a species complex of at least eight different species. The closely related species Berthella plumula (Montagu, 1803), examined for comparison, is also a complex of two species; the name B. plumula is retained for the Atlantic species and the name Berthella perforata (Philippi, 1844) is proposed for the Mediterranean species. The B. stellata species complex forms a monophyletic group when the Eastern Pacific species Berthella strongi (MacFarland, 1966) is included. Based on a critical review of the literature, the name Berthella stellata is retained for the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean species, and the name Berthella pellucida (Pease, 1860) is resurrected for a species found in the Hawaiian Islands. Two new species from the Caribbean region (Berthella nebula sp. nov., Berthella vialactea sp. nov.) and one from the Eastern Pacific (Berthella andromeda sp. nov.) are described herein, but the status of the Brazilian species B. tupala Er. Marcus, 1957 remains uncertain. Two possible new species from the Eastern Pacific, represented by one specimen each, were recovered in the phylogenetic analyses but not formally described. It is hypothesized that additional species of this complex may occur in other parts of the Indo-Pacific tropics, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

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Acknowledgments

The specimen from New Caledonia was collected during the “Our Planet Reviewed” - New Caledonia expedition (2016–2019), a joint project of MNHN and Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels (CEN) de Nouvelle-Calédonie, funded mainly by the Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Province Nord, Agence Française de la Biodiversité (AFB), the Lounsbery Foundation, and Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT). The expedition operated under a permit issued by Direction du Développement Economique et de l’Environnement (DDEE) of Province Nord. Field work in the Hawaiian Islands was supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1355177. The electron microscopy was conducted of the SEM at the California State Polytechnic University SEM Laboratory supported by the NSF grant DMR-1429674. HG was supported by the NIH-funded MBRS RISE grant 1R25GM11374801.

Funding

This study was not part of any funded project, but various aspects of the research process were funded by grants from the US National Science Foundation (DEB-1355177 and DMR-1429674), the US National Institutes of Health (1R25GM11374801), the Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Province Nord, the Agence Française de la Biodiversité (AFB), the Lounsbery Foundation, and Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona, CA, 91768, USA

    Hessam Ghanimi & Ángel Valdés

  2. SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Münchhausenstrasse 21, 81247, Munich, Germany

    Michael Schrödl

  3. Faculty of Biology and GeoBio-Center Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany

    Michael Schrödl

  4. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-6150, USA

    Jeffrey H. R. Goddard

  5. Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Manuel Ballesteros

  6. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    Terrence M. Gosliner

  7. Association Flabellina, 7 rue René Cassin, 34120, Pézenas, France

    Yan Buske

Authors
  1. Hessam Ghanimi
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  2. Michael Schrödl
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  3. Jeffrey H. R. Goddard
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  4. Manuel Ballesteros
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  5. Terrence M. Gosliner
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  6. Yan Buske
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  7. Ángel Valdés
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ángel Valdés.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed by the authors.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgements.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the the GenBank repository, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/

Author contribution

HG and AV conceived and designed research. MS, JHRG, MB, TMG and YB contributed material and biological data. HG conducted molecular work. HG and AV analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Additional information

Communicated by V. Urgorri

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Ghanimi, H., Schrödl, M., Goddard, J.H.R. et al. Stargazing under the sea: molecular and morphological data reveal a constellation of species in the Berthella stellata (Risso, 1826) species complex (Mollusca, Heterobranchia, Pleurobranchidae). Mar. Biodivers. 50, 11 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-019-01027-w

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