Abstract
Analyzing the mitochondrial 16S gene from specimens collected along the Brazilian coast, we expanded the current genetic diversity and phylogeny of the Christmas tree hydroid, Pennaria disticha Goldfuss, 1820 complex. A total of seven clades were retrieved, of which three were recovered among the newly added specimens—two were already known from different locations in previous studies and a new one was formed by a specimen collected near an isolated coastal island in the Sao Paulo state—demonstrating that P. disticha also represents a complex of cryptic species in the southwestern Atlantic. Species delimitation analyses recovered three to five clades as separate species within P. disticha; moreover, the haplotype network confirmed the already suggested scenario of multiple invasive trajectories and helped untangle the genetic relationships between clades. The data presented herein, besides broadening P. disticha genetic diversity, reinforce the importance of barcoding analyses of local populations in cryptic species studies.
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