Genomic Insights From Natural History Collections Reveal Cryptic Speciation in Coral Guard Crabs (Family: Trapeziidae).

ABSTRACT: Mutualistic relationships such as the one between Trapezia crabs and coral colonies are common in reef organisms and play a crucial role in coral resilience and resistance to climate-induced stressor, yet very little is known about the taxonomic diversity and evolutionary history of the species involved. Despite being essential actors of coral reefs and threatened by the ongoing degradation of their habitat, little genetic information is available for Trapezia crabs, including the exact number of species and their relationships. To overcome this limitation, we sampled Natural History Collections, an important and underutilized source of genomic data. We used a novel approach optimized for degraded DNA to generate high-quality genomic data from a combination of 166 museum tiss

SUBMITTER: Pollard K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11836902 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature