Population genetic structure and ecological differentiation in the bryozoan genus Reteporella across the Azores Archipelago (central North Atlantic)
Lara Baptista,
Manuel Curto,
Andrea Waeschenbach,
Björn Berning,
António M. Santos,
Sérgio P. Ávila,
Harald Meimberg
Affiliations
Lara Baptista
CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Biologia, Rua Mãe de Deus 13A, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal; Institute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research, Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, BOKU University, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180, Wien, Austria; CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, no. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal; Corresponding author. CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Biologia, Rua Mãe de Deus 13A, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Portugal.
Manuel Curto
BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal; CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, no. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
Andrea Waeschenbach
Science, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
Björn Berning
CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Biologia, Rua Mãe de Deus 13A, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Portugal
António M. Santos
BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal; CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, no. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal; Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 1021/1055, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
Sérgio P. Ávila
CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Biologia, Rua Mãe de Deus 13A, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal; Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 1021/1055, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal; UNESCO Chair – Land Within Sea: Biodiversity & Sustainability in Atlantic Islands, Universidade dos Açores, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade dos Açores, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal
Harald Meimberg
Institute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research, Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, BOKU University, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180, Wien, Austria
The processes shaping population dynamics of benthic marine invertebrates with non-planktotrophic larvae are still poorly understood but have seen a renewed interest in applying integrative taxonomic approaches. We used mitochondrial and microsatellite (SSR-GBAS) data to estimate connectivity across islands and seamounts in the central North Atlantic Azores Archipelago in five species of the bryozoan genus Reteporella Busk, 1884. Discordant patterns were inferred between datasets, which might be due to methodological constraints related to the application of multilocus approaches based on amplification to multiple species or due to interspecific introgression in deep waters. A divergent cryptic ecotype of Reteporella atlantica (Busk, 1884) was found in shallow waters, likely resulting from ecologically-driven incipient speciation, posing new questions regarding the role of bathymetrical zonation as a promoter of differentiation. The occurrence of ecologically-driven differentiation and potential interspecific introgression in other bryozoans should be considered, both with potentially important evolutionary and biogeographical consequences. The discovery of incipient species, prompted by ecological factors, calls for the need to consider marine invertebrates when developing conservation strategies in oceanic insular ecosystems.
