Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Phylogeny‐Based Species Delimitations and the Evolution of Host Associations in Symbiotic Zoanthids (Anthozoa, Zoanthidea) of the Wider Caribbean Region

ORCID

0000-0002-6485-6823

ResearcherID

M-7702-2013

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

ISSN

0024-4082

Publication Date

6-2009

Keywords

Biogeography, Cryptic species, Demospongia, Hydrozoa, ITS ribosomal, RNA, Specificity, Symbiosis, Zoanthidea

Abstract

Zoanthids are marine cnidarians with simple morphologies that challenge our ability to delineate species. Phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences are consistent with six morphologically described species from the wider Caribbean region, and reveal four additional species that were not previously recognized. Histological examinations of unidentified species reveal cryptic Isozoanthus and Edwardsiidae (Actiniaria) species. Observations of zoanthids in situ reveal geographic distributions that range from regional to trans‐Atlantic. ITS and 16S data are consistent with hypotheses of paraphyly in some higher taxa of zoanthids; however, the clades of zoanthids recovered in both analyses can largely be defined by their host associations, thereby supporting phylogenetic conservatism in zoanthid–host association evolution. The single clear example of a zoanthid switching hosts was accompanied by a compensatory loss of endosymbiosis, which maintained the match in photosynthetic symbioses between zoanthids and sponge hosts.

DOI

10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00513.x

Volume

156

Issue

2

First Page

223

Last Page

238

Comments

©2009 The Linnean Society of London

Additional Comments

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia grant #: 119-0362975-1226; NSF grant #: 0550599

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Peer Reviewed

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