Mating trials validate the use of DNA barcoding to reveal cryptic speciation of a marine bryozoan taxon.

ABSTRACT: Despite increasing threats to the marine environment, only a fraction of the biodiversity of the oceans has been described, owing in part to the widespread occurrence of cryptic species. DNA-based barcoding through screening of an orthologous reference gene has been proposed as a powerful tool to uncover biological diversity in the face of dwindling taxonomic expertise and the limitations of traditional species identification. Although DNA barcoding should be particularly useful in the sea, given the prevalence of marine cryptic species, the link between taxa identified through DNA barcodes and reproductively isolated taxa (biological species) has rarely been explicitly tested. Here, we use an integrated framework comparing breeding compatibility, morphology and mitochondrial (cytochrome c

SUBMITTER: Gomez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1685843 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature