Abstract
The morphological characters used to distinguish the two species of the crab genus Epialtus that occur in the neotropical areas of the Brazilian coast, E. bituberculatus and E. brasiliensis, are variable, casting doubt on their taxonomic status. Three approaches were chosen in order to resolve this uncertainty: morphological, molecular analysis and combined phylogenetic analysis with genetic data and morphometry. A molecular phylogenetic analysis was performed to test whether these two species can be separated at the molecular level (using the two mitochondrial genes 16S and COI – DNA barcode). The genetic distances and phylogenetic trees showed that E. brasiliensis fell within the clade of E. bituberculatus. We suggest that there is one species in Brazil and the presence or absence of the spine on the ventral surface of the propodus of the ambulatory pereiopods (a key diagnosing character) appears to be uninformative. However, all the analysis showed that specimens of Epialtus can be separated in three clades corresponding to three geographic regions: Caribbean Sea, Venezuela and Brazil. We conjectured the existence of three cryptic species that evolved recently.
Recommended Citation
Tamburus, Ana Francisca and Mantelatto, Fernando L.
(2016)
"A multifaceted comparison between the spider crabs Epialtus bituberculatus and Epialtus brasiliensis (Brachyura: Majoidea: Epialtidae) in the neotropical areas of the western Atlantic: morphology, morphometry and DNA markers,"
Neotropical Biodiversity Journal: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 13.
Available at:
https://ikiam.researchcommons.org/neotropical-diversity/vol2/iss1/13
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