An integrative phylogeography for inferring cryptic speciation in the Alpheus lottini species complex, an important coral mutualist.

ABSTRACT: We use molecular analyses, color patterns, and records of distribution of mating pairs to reconstruct the global phylogeography of Alpheus lottini, a complex of cryptic coral-associated snapping shrimp species. Molecular data support the delineation of ancestral clades A, B, and C, and suggest five additional subdivisions within clades A and B. Clades A, B1, B2, and C exhibit color pattern differences and/or evidence of assortative mating, and thus merit species-level recognition. There is no evidence for assortative mating within clades A and B1, with likely reproductive compatibility (i.e., fertile clutches) in areas of sympatry. The clade diversity peaks in the Mariana Islands and the early branching clade C is restricted to the northern periphery of the Central and Western Pacif

SUBMITTER: Rouze H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11519463 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature