Cryptic introduction of the red alga Polysiphonia morrowii Harvey (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) in the North Atlantic Ocean highlighted by a DNA barcoding approach

• Published in: Aquatic Botany
• Main Authors: Geoffroy, Alexandre, Le Gall, Line, Destombe, Christophe
• Other Authors: Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae (EBEA), Station biologique de Roscoff Roscoff (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC)-Universidad Austral de Chile-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin (AD2M), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: Alien species Barcoding Brittany Cryptic introduction Haplotype rbcL; [SDV.BV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology; [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity; [SDV.BBM.BM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry; Molecular Biology/Molecular biology; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; New Zealand; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal-mnhn.archives-ouvertes.fr/mnhn-02498515; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2012.03.002

International audience Macroalgae are prone to be introduced outside of their autochthonous area; however, the difficulty to unequivocally identify them based on morpho-anatomical features, mainly due to the lack of diagnostic characters, often hampered the rapid detection of exogenous species. In the present study, we document that the Polysiphonia species that dominates, during spring, the high intertidal level in Brittany is Polysiphonia morrowii. We demonstrated the presence of this alien species in the North Eastern Atlantic in light of molecular sequences. This species originally from the Northwest Pacific Ocean has already been reported as introduced in Chile and New Zealand on a molecular ground and has been suspected in North Sea and Mediterranean Sea based on morpho-anatomical ground. Among the 105 individuals of P. morrowii collected along the coast of Brittany, three haplotypes were found suggesting several introduction events. In our opinion, the progression of this exogenous species, which has been so far undetected due to its morphological similarities with native species, should be further monitored.