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Vol. 50 No. 3, 2011
Does Petrolisthes armatus
(Anomura, Porcellanidae) form a Species Complex or Are We Dealing with
Just One Widely Distributed Species?
Fernando
L. Mantelatto1,*, Leonardo G. Pileggi1, Ivana
Miranda1, and Ingo S.
Wehrtmann2
1Laboratory
of Bioecology and Crustacean Systematics, Postgraduate Program in
Comparative Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Philosophy,
Science and Letters of Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), Univ. of São Paulo,
Ribeirão Preto (SP); Av. Bandeirantes 3900,
CEP 14040-901, Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil
2CUnidad de Investigación Pesquera y Acuicultura
(UNIP) of the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología
(CIMAR), and Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Univ. de Costa
Rica, San Pedro-San José 2060, Costa Rica
Fernando
L. Mantelatto, Leonardo G. Pileggi, Ivana Miranda, and Ingo S. Wehrtmann
(2011) Petrolisthes armatus has the widest distribution
known among members of the family Porcellanidae and is one of the most
ubiquitous and locally abundant intertidal decapods along the Atlantic
coast of the Americas. Considering its geographical distribution and
morphological plasticity, several authors postulated the existence of a
P. armatus species
complex. In the present study we used genetic data from the
mitochondrial 16S ribosomal gene to determine the genetic variability
of P. armatus from selected
locations within its eastern tropical Pacific and western Atlantic
distributions. Our phylogenic analysis included 49 specimens
represented by 26 species of the genus Petrolisthes and 16 specimens
from 10 species and 4 related genera. Genetic distances estimated among
the analyzed Petrolisthes species ranged from 2.6%-22.0%; varied
between 0%-5.7% for 16S. Additionally, the revision of P. armatus specimens from Pacific
Costa Rica and Brazilian Waters showed no geographically significant
morphological variations among the analyzed specimens. Therefore, our
morphological and genetic data do not support the hypothesis of a P. armatus complex within the
specimens studied herein from the Americas, but convincingly confirm
the monophyly and non-separateness of the members assigned as P. armatus.
Key words: Morphology,
Taxonomy, Phylogenetic relationships.
*Correspondence: Tel/Fax: 55-16-36023656.
E-mail:flmantel@usp.br
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