Phylogeography of intertidal red algae, Gloiopeltis, (Gigartinales) reveals species complex in the North-Pacific

Abstract

The red algae, Gloiopeltis commonly distributed in rocky intertidal habitat along theNorth-Pacific, is good model to investigate the phylogeographic studies. To examine thegenetic diversity within Gloiopeltis species in current distribution, we analyzed a total of 262specimens collected from Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and Canada using two molecularmarkers of mitochondrial COI-5P and plastid rbcL. The phylogenetic trees and haplotypenetworks of both markers revealed at least nine highly divergent lineages in G. furcata, all ofwhich were reciprocally monophyletic and clearly separated from congeners. Most lineageswere diverged in Korea, except one lineage of which is extended from the northwest tonortheast Pacific. In addition, we detected a novel species from Korea, G. frutex sp. nov,which was overlooked under phenotypic similarity to G. complanata. This result indicatedthat the genetic and species diversity of Gloiopeltis were substantially underestimatedbecause high level of genetic divergence is not appeared at the morphological level. Weassume that the environmental stress in the intertidal habitat may reduce gene flow generatingspeciation in the local region.tion, we analyzed a total of 262specimens collected from Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and Canada using two molecularmarkers of mitochondrial COI-5P and plastid rbcL. The phylogenetic trees and haplotypenetworks of both markers revealed at least nine highly divergent lineages in G. furcata, all ofwhich were reciprocally monophyletic and clearly separated from congeners. Most lineageswere diverged in Korea, except one lineage of which is extended from the northwest tonortheast Pacific. In addition, we detected a novel species from Korea, G. frutex sp. nov,which was overlooked under phenotypic similarity to G. complanata. This result indicatedthat the genetic and species diversity of Gloiopeltis were substantially underestimatedbecause high level of genetic divergence is not appeared at the morphological level. Weassume that the environmental stress in the intertidal habitat may reduce gene flow generatingspeciation in the local region.