Anti-Lessepsian migration rectified: the Comber Serranus cabrilla (L. 1758) existed in the Red Sea prior to the Suez Canal opening

Abstract

Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, a plethora of Red Sea fishes have entered the Mediterranean Sea (Lessepsian migration). The Comber Serranus cabrilla is considered to have moved in the opposite direction as anti-Lessepsian migrant and has an established population in the northern Red Sea. Mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear DNA from 49 individuals from Red Sea (Gulf of Suez) and Mediterranean populations (Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon), as well as GenBank sequences from other Mediterranean and Atlantic populations were analyzed to study phylogenetic relationships. COI sequencing resulted in a phylogenetic tree that isolated the Red Sea population from all Mediterranean and Atlantic populations. Furthermore, sequence divergence within the Red Sea population was significantly lower than in Atlantic and Mediterranean populations. Moreover, none of the Mediterranean haplotypes were present in the Red Sea. SNPs and MIG-seq analyses of nuclear DNA confirmed that the Red Sea population is genetically different from the Mediterranean populations. A rough estimate of divergence time suggested that Mediterranean and Red Sea populations separated 194,055 years ago, at the latest. Serranus cabrilla must, therefore, have existed in the Red Sea prior to the opening of the Suez Canal and can no longer be considered as an anti-Lessepsian migrant.