To Be, or Not to Be: That Is the Hamletic Question of Cryptic Evolution in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Raja miraletus Species Complex.

ABSTRACT: Despite a high species diversity, skates (Rajiformes) exhibit remarkably conservative morphology and ecology. Limited trait variations occur within and between species, and cryptic species have been reported among sister and non-sister taxa, suggesting that species complexes may be subject to stabilising selection. Three sibling species are currently recognised in the Raja miraletus complex: (i) R. miraletus occurring along the Portuguese and Mediterranean coasts, (ii) R. parva in the Central-Eastern Atlantic off West Africa and (iii) R. ocellifera in the Western Indian Ocean off South Africa. In the present study, the genetic variation at mitochondrial and nuclear markers was estimated in the species complex by analysing 323 individuals sampled across most of i

SUBMITTER: Ferrari A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10339953 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature