Lack of mtDNA and morphological differentiation between two acorn barnacles <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetraclita japonica</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">T. formosana</Emphasis> differing in parietes colours and geographical distribution |
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Authors: | L M Tsang Benny K K Chan K Y Ma C-H Hsu K H Chu |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong;(2) Research Centre for Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan;(3) Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, The Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong |
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Abstract: | Tetraclita japonica and T. formosana are common intertidal barnacles with similar morphology, which leads to uncertainty in their species status. In the present
study, we try to elucidate the taxonomic status of the two taxa using morphology and mitochondrial control region and cytochrome
c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of the barnacles in their distribution range. The two taxa were found to be morphologically
similar; a diagnostic difference between them was only observed in the colour of the parietes and opercular plates. Little
genetic differentiation was detected in the control region and COI (ΦCT < 0.025 for both markers) between two taxa, but differentiation was found between the southern (Taiwan and Hong Kong) and
northern (Japan) populations of T. japonica/T. formosana, which might be the result of isolation by distance and upwelling in summer. Our data suggest that the two presently recognized
species probably represent two colour morphotypes of the same species exhibiting different geographical distribution. T. japonica is abundant in Japan and southeast coast of China, whereas T. formosana is only abundant in Taiwan. The heterogeneous environment might exert a divergent selection pressure leading to asymmetric
distribution of the two colour morphotypes. The different colours might be a result of either phenotypic plasticity adaptive
to environmental variables or genetic hitchhiking of local adaptive genotypes.
Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users. |
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