Asymmetron lucayanum: How many species are valid?

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 3; p. e0229119
• Main Authors: Subirana, Lucie, Farstey, Viviana, Bertrand, Stephanie, Escriva, Hector
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 04.03.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Asymmetry; Biology and Life Sciences; Cephalochordata; COI protein; Computer and Information Sciences; Cryptic species; Cytochrome; Divergence; Earth Sciences; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genetic research; Genomes; Marine animals; Marine organisms; Maximum likelihood method; Mitochondrial DNA; New species; Oceanography; Oceans; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Research and analysis methods; Sciences of the Universe; Red Sea; Gulf of Aqaba; Israel; France
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229119

The cephalochordates amphioxus or lancelets are benthic marine animals representing the earliest divergent evolutionary lineage within chordates. Although amphioxus are present in most of the world's tropical and temperate oceans, only about thirty different species grouped into three different genera, Branchiostoma, Epigonichthys and Asymmetron have been described. In the genus Asymmetron, only two species have been characterized, although for one of them, A. lucayanum, several cryptic lineages exist. In this work we have sequenced and analyzed the mitogenome of an A. lucayanum population previously described in the Red Sea. The phylogenetic study using this complete mitogenome as well as the analysis of COI gene sequences of several individuals of this Red Sea population show that the Red Sea population is a new cryptic species. We propose to call this new species Asymmetron rubrum.