Genetic evidence for two sibling species within Polydora cf. ciliata (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from the Sea of Japan

Two morphologically indistinguishable but genetically very distinct polychaete species of the family Spionidae are found in the Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan. Both species bore into molluscan shells and occur sympatrically. They are close in morphology to Polydora ciliata (Johnston, 1838) and some other members of the redefined P. ciliata species complex. The systematics of the two species is still under consideration by one of us (V.I.R.). A total of nine enzyme systems comprising 12 isozyme loci were examined in both the species by means of starch gel electrophoresis. Nei's genetic distance between them proved surprisingly high (D= 1.942) being the highest among estimates so far obtained for pairs of polydorid species. The levels of intraspecific genetic variation in both species (Polydora sp. 1, H _e= 0.287 ± 0.064; Polydora sp. 2, H _e= 0.111 ± 0.045) are comparable to those of other electrophoretically studied polydorids. The problem of taxonomic integrity of cosmopolitan marine invertebrate species is briefly discussed as well as the usefulness of isozymes as species-specific characters suitable for unequivocal discrimination between sibling polydorid species. A list of enzymes characterized by interspecifically variable numbers of expressed isozymes within polydorids is given and recommended for such a discrimination. Received: 22 July 1997 / Accepted: 19 February 1998