Analysis of ribosomal ITS1 sequences indicates a deep divergence betweenRhodactis(Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Corallimorpharia) species from the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific/Red Sea
✍ Scribed by C. A. Chen; D. J. Miller
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 849 KB
- Volume
- 126
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0025-3162
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✦ Synopsis
This paper explores the implications of ribosomal ITSl-sequence analysis for evolutionary relationships between four species of corallimorphs which are morphologically very similar but have distinct distributions. The analyses highlight the unreliability of morphological criteria in establishing systematic relationships amongst tropical corallimorphs. Both parsimony and distance methods of phylogenetic analysis strongly support a deep divergence between the Caribbean species Rhodactics sanctithoma and the three morphologically-related species R. howesii and R. indosinensis from the Indo-Pacific and R. rhodostoma from the Red Sea. The analyses also strongly support a closer relationship between the Red Sea species, R. rhodostorna, and one of the Indo-Pacific species, R. howesii, than between these two and the second Indo-Pacific species, R. indosinensis. The first of these results is presumably a consequence of the closure of the Central American Seaway, the event which led to the separate development of Atlantic and Indo-Pacific coral faunas. However, the lack of detailed distribution data represents a major barrier to reconstructing the evolutionary history of the genus.