A mega-cryptic species complex hidden among one of the most common annelids in the North East Atlantic

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Nygren, Arne, Parapar, Julio, Pons, Joan, Meissner, Karin, Bakken, Torkild, Kongsrud, Jon Anders, Oug, Eivind, Gaeva, Daria, Sikorski, Andrey, Johansen, Robert André, Hutchings, Pat Ann, Lavesque, Nicolas, Capa, Maria
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04572361; https://hal.science/hal-04572361/document; https://hal.science/hal-04572361/file/file.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198356

International audience We investigate mitochondrial (COI, 16S rDNA) and nuclear (ITS2, 28S rDNA) genetic structureof North East Atlantic lineages of Terebellides, a genus of sedentary annelids mainly inhabitingcontinental shelf and slope sediments. We demonstrate the presence of more than 25 speciesof which only seven are formally described. Species boundaries are determined with moleculardata using a broad range of analytical methods. Many of the new species are common andwide spread, and the majority of the species are found in sympatry with several other speciesin the complex. Being one of the most regularly encountered annelid taxa in the North EastAtlantic, it is more likely to find an undescribed species of Terebellides than a described one.