Cryptic diversity in smooth-shelled mussels on Southern Ocean islands: connectivity, hybridisation and a marine invasion

• Published in: Frontiers in Zoology
• Main Authors: Zbawicka, Małgorzata, Gardner, Jonathan P. A., Wenne, Roman
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central 2019
• Subjects: Research; Campbell Island; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; New Zealand; Southern Ocean; Auckland Islands; Ocean Island
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6685288/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31406494; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-019-0332-y

BACKGROUND: Large numbers of endemic species inhabit subantarctic continental coasts and islands that are characterised by highly variable environmental conditions. Southern hemisphere populations of taxa that are morphologically similar to northern counterparts have traditionally been considered to be extensions of such Northern hemisphere taxa, and may not exhibit differentiation amongst geographically isolated populations in the Southern Ocean. Smooth-shelled blue mussels of the genus Mytilus that exhibit an anti-tropical distribution are a model group to study phylogeography, speciation and hybridisation in the sea, and contribute to the theory and practice of marine biosecurity. METHODS: We used a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) panel that has the ability to accurately identify reference Northern and Southern hemisphere Mytilus taxa to test for evolutionary differentiation amongst native Southern Ocean island populations. RESULTS: Native mussels from the Falkland Islands and the Kerguelen Islands exhibited greatest affinity to native M. platensis d’Orbigny 1846 from the Atlantic coast of South America. The major Southern Ocean current flow from west to east is likely to explain the spreading of M. platensis to remote offshore islands, as adults via the process of rafting or perhaps directly as larvae. SNPs variation revealed that mussels from Tasmania were native and clearly differentiated from all other blue mussel groups in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. The native mussels M. planulatus from Tasmania and from mainland New Zealand (NZ), and tentatively M. aoteanus from the two NZ Southern Ocean offshore island groups (the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island), formed a distinct M. galloprovincialis–like Southern hemisphere group with closest affinity to Northern hemisphere M. galloprovincialis from the Mediterranean Sea. In all cases, the SNPs revealed evidence of hybridisation between two or more distinct taxa. The invasive Northern hemisphere M. galloprovincialis was identified only in ...