Insights into the Migration Routes and Historical Dispersion of Species Surviving the Messinian Crisis: The Case of Patella ulyssiponensis and Epizoic Rhodolith Lithophyllum hibernicum

Nuno Gomes,Carlos Antunes,Dimítri De Araújo Costa

doi:10.3390/hydrobiology1010003

Abstract

The genus Patella (Patellogastropoda, Mollusca) is represented by a group of species exclusive to the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (including Macaronesian archipelagos) and Mediterranean Sea. The species Patella ulyssiponensis and Patella aspera are common in European waters, with the first inhabiting continental coast, and the second endemic to Macaronesian archipelagos. However, the acceptance of these two lineages as separate species is still highly debated. The red coralline species algae Lithophyllum hibernicum, distributed from Northeast Atlantic to the Mediterranean, is usually found as epilithic crusts or unattached forms (named rhodolith beds), although it also forms epizoic crusts on other organisms, e.g., shell surfaces. In order to study the historic dispersal and migration routes of the Patella ulyssiponensis-aspera complex, taxonomic, genetic and biogeographic approaches were employed based on haplotype network analyses and estimations for the most common recent ancestor (TMRCA), using Cytochrome Oxydase I. A synonymy for these two species is proposed, with the presence of a shared haplotype between the continental (P. ulyssiponensis) and insular (P. aspera) lineages, and with basis of morphological and nomenclatural data. We propose an evolutionary scenario for its dispersal based on a high haplotype diversity for the Mediterranean regions, indicating its possible survival during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (6–5.3 Mya), followed by a colonization of the Proto-Macaronesian archipelagos. The epizoic association of L. hibernicum on P. ulyssiponensis shell adult surface is recorded in this study, likewise the promotion of settlement conditions provided by these coralline algae to P. ulyssiponensis larvae, may explain the reach of P. ulyssiponensis distribution through rhodolith transportation.

Highlights

Patella Linnaeus, 1758 is a gastropod genus with 15 valid species, i.e., Patella asperaRöding, 1798, Patella caerulea Linnaeus, 1758, Patella candei d’Orbigny, 1840, Patella depressaPennant, 1777, Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791, Patella gomesii Drouët, 1858, Patella lugubrisGmelin, 1791, Patella ordinaria Mabille, 1888, Patella pellucida Linnaeus, 1758, Patella rusticaLinnaeus, 1758, Patella skelettensis Massier, 2009, Patella swakopmundensis Massier, 2009, Patella tenuis Gmelin, 1791, Patella ulyssiponensis Gmelin, 1791, and Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758 [1]
Trees obtained with Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference shared a similar topology with a separation of two different lineages, one from the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean continental shelf and another from the Macaronesian archipelagos with some Mediterranean populations (Figure 8 and Figure S1)
Ocean formation, followed by the closure of the Tethys seaway and successive closure of the connection between Indian and Atlantic Oceans during the Lower Miocene, the emergence of the Proto-Macaronesia archipelagos, the closure and reopening of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis and the closure of the passage on Isthmus of Panama (Table 7) as the radiation events for the genus Patella we propose the following scenarios for the origin and biogeography of Patella ulyssiponensis: 1

Summary

Introduction

Patella Linnaeus, 1758 is a gastropod genus with 15 valid species, i.e., Patella aspera. 1758, Patella skelettensis Massier, 2009, Patella swakopmundensis Massier, 2009, Patella tenuis Gmelin, 1791, Patella ulyssiponensis Gmelin, 1791, and Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758 [1]. [7,9], and less adapted for metabolism at high temperatures [10] This species is a protandrous hermaphrodite with external fertilization, reaching sexual maturity around 40 mm in shell length, being reproductively active during the winter and early spring [11,12]. Document for Azorean Limpet Patella aspera; OSPAR Commission: London, UK, 2010. D.; Cañizares, J.M.; Nogueira, N.; Andrade, C.A.P. Artificial maturation and larval production of the limpet Patella aspera Röding, 1798 (Patellogastropoda, Mollusca): Enhancing fertilization success of oocytes using NaOH-alkalinized seawater. In British Marine Conchology; Being a Descriptive Catalogue, Arranged According to the Lamarckian System, of the Salt Water Shells of Great Britain, by Charles Thorpe, Assisted by Several Distinguished Conchologists, and Illustrated with Numerous Delineation; Thorpe, C., Ed.; Edward Lumley: London, UK, 1844; pp. 263–267

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