Vol. 62, 2023

(update: 2023.4.25)

Adding the Molecular Diversity Information of the Common Fouling Barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite (Darwin, 1854) (Crustacea: Cirripedia) from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the Global Diversity Pattern

Asma Moeinadini¹, Alireza Sari^1,*, Adnan Shahdadi², Ahmad-Reza Katouzian^1,3, Alimorad Sarafrazi⁴, and Elahe Elahi⁵

¹School of Biology and Centre of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. *Correspondence: E-mail: sari@ut.ac.ir (Sari).
E-mail: a.moeinadini@ut.ac.ir (Moeinadini)
²Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran. E-mail: adnan1361@gmail.com (Shahdadi)
³Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, 370, 105 12 Ave SE, Calgary AB T2G 1A1. E-mail: ahmadreza.katouzian@gmail.com (Katouzian)
⁴Taxonomy Research Department, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: asarafrazi@yahoo.com (Sarafrazi)
⁵School of Biology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: elahe.elahi@ut.ac.ir (Elahi)

(Received 8 March 2022 / Accepted 18 January 2023 / Published 25 April 2023)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

The balanid barnacle, Amphibalanus amphitrite, is known as one of the most common fouling species in the world. A phylogenetic study using material from around the world recovered three distinct clades for this species. Material from the Persian Gulf (PG) and the Gulf of Oman (GO) were not included in that survey. In the present study, we aimed to assess the genetic diversity of the balanid barnacles of these two gulfs and to evaluate their phylogeography. In total, 94 COI DNA sequences were obtained from the PG and the GO material. Most of these sequences clustered into a single clade, corresponding to clade I of the previous global study. However, two sequences, one from the PG and one from the GO, fell into a separate clade corresponding to clade III of the previous study. These two gulfs share some common haplotypes, but host several unique ones that are separated from the most common haplotype mainly by a single mutation. Based on various indices, the genetic diversity of the PG material was higher than that of the GO. Low values of Φ_ST show a regular gene flow among the stations and the two gulfs. The Bayesian
skyline plots and the mismatch distribution analyses both showed signs of a recent population expansion in the PG and the GO. We also modeled the potential distribution areas for A. amphitrite to reveal the separate suitable habitats for the clades. The current phylogeographic status and genetic diversity of A. amphitrite in the PG and GO appears to have been shaped by both historical events and recent human
activities.

Key words: Barnacle, Amphibalanus amphitrite, Phylogeography, Population Genetic, Gene flow.

Citation: Moeinadini A, Sari A, Shahdadi A, Katouzian A, Sarafrazi A, Elahi E. 2023. Adding the molecular diversity information of the common fouling barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite (Darwin, 1854) (Crustacea: Cirripedia) from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the global diversity pattern. Zool Stud 62:16. doi:10.6620/ZS.2023.62-16.

Supplementary materials: Fig. S1