A genetic assessment of the taxonomic status of New Zealand mussels of the genus Xenostrobus Wilson, 1967 |
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| Authors: | Donald J Colgan Richard C Willan Lisa A Kirkendale |
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| Institution: | 1. Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW, Australia don.colgan@austmus.gov.au https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4731-9700;3. Natural Sciences Section, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia;4. Department of Aquatic Zoology, Western Australian Museum. Welshpool, WA, Australia |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT The genus Xenostrobus consists of small, marine and estuarine mussels that all appear similar externally. One of its estuarine species, Xenostrobus securis, with a native range in New Zealand and Australia, has become invasive in the Northern Hemisphere. No genetic data are available to determine if X. securis populations from the two countries are conspecific. Additionally, marine Xenostrobus from New Zealand have often been regarded as a species, X. neozelanicus, distinct fromthe marine Australian species X. pulex. We combined new DNA sequences with published data to assess the taxonomic status of New Zealand Xenostrobus. The data comprised 658 aligned bases of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and 331 bases of nuclear histone H3. There was no evidence that X. securis populations from Australia and New Zealand are specifically distinct. Northern Hemisphere specimens of X. securis belonged to Australian, not New Zealand, clades in phylogenetic analyses of COI data, suggesting the former country as their more likely original source. The results confirm that X. neozelanicus and X. pulex are distinct species and for nomenclatural completeness for this taxonomic decision a lectotype is designated for Mytilus ater Zelebor in Dunker and Zelebor, 1866 DunkerW, ZeleborJ. 1866. Bericht über die von der Novara-expedition mitgebrachten Mollusken. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 16:909–916. Google Scholar] ?=?Modiolus neozelanicus Iredale, 1915 IredaleT. 1915. A commentary on Suter’s ‘Manual of New Zealand Mollusca’. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 47:417–497. Google Scholar]]. |
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| Keywords: | Invasive species DNA sequences Xenostrobus neozelanicus Xenostrobus pulex Xenostrobus securis |
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4731-9700;3. Natural Sciences Section, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia;4. Department of Aquatic Zoology, Western Australian Museum. Welshpool, WA, Australia