Species Delineation and Evolutionary History of the Globally Distributed Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari)

Authors

Vincent P. Richards, Nova Southeastern University
Marcy Henning, Nova Southeastern University
Wayne Witzell, National Marine Fisheries Service
Mahmood S. Shivji, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

ResearcherID

G-4080-2013

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Heredity

ISSN

0022-1503

Publication Date

2-18-2009

Keywords

Batoid, Conservation, Evolutionary history, Speciation

Abstract

The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), a large coral reef–associated batoid of conservation concern, is currently described as a single, circumglobally distributed species. However, geographic differences in its morphology and parasite diversity have raised unconfirmed suspicions that A. narinari may constitute a species complex. We used 1570 bp of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data (cytochrome b, cytochrome coxidase subunit I, and internal transcribed spacer 2) to assess the validity of A. narinari as a single cosmopolitan species and infer its evolutionary history. Specimens from 4 major geographic regions were examined: the Central Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, Western Pacific, and Central Pacific. Phylogenies described 3 distinct, reciprocally monophyletic lineages with no genetic exchange among regions. Based on combined genealogical concordance and genetic distance criteria, we recommend that the Western/Central Pacific lineage be recognized as a distinct species from lineages in the Central Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. The latter 2 lineages, separated by the Isthmus of Panama, are proposed as subspecies. A basal position in phylogenetic analyses and statistical parsimony results support an Indo-West Pacific origin for the A. narinari species complex, with subsequent westerly dispersal around the southern tip of Africa into the Atlantic and then into the Eastern Pacific.

DOI

10.1093/jhered/esp005

Volume

100

Issue

3

First Page

273

Last Page

283

Comments

©The American Genetic Association. 2009. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Science award #: NA04NOS4260065; Save Our Seas Foundation Project grant #: 71

NSUWorks Citation

Vincent P. Richards, Marcy Henning, Wayne Witzell, and Mahmood S. Shivji. 2009. Species Delineation and Evolutionary History of the Globally Distributed Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari) .Journal of Heredity , (3) : 273 -283. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/364.