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Phylogeography of the crown-of-thorns starfish in the Indian Ocean

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Vogler, Catherine, Benzie, John A. H., Barber, Paul H., Erdmann, Mark V., Ambariyanto, , Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), Tenggardjaja, Kimberly, Gérard, Karin and Wörheide, Gert (2012) Phylogeography of the crown-of-thorns starfish in the Indian Ocean. PLoS One, Vol.7 (No.8). e43499. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043499

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0043499

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Abstract

Background: Understanding the limits and population dynamics of closely related sibling species in the marine realm is particularly relevant in organisms that require management. The crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci, recently shown to be a species complex of at least four closely related species, is a coral predator infamous for its outbreaks that have devastated reefs throughout much of its Indo-Pacific distribution.

Methodology/Principal Findings: In this first Indian Ocean-wide genetic study of a marine organism we investigated the genetic structure and inferred the paleohistory of the two Indian Ocean sister-species of Acanthaster planci using mitochondrial DNA sequence analyses. We suggest that the first of two main diversification events led to the formation of a Southern and Northern Indian Ocean sister-species in the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene. The second led to the formation of two internal clades within each species around the onset of the last interglacial. The subsequent demographic history of the two lineages strongly differed, the Southern Indian Ocean sister-species showing a signature of recent population expansion and hardly any regional structure, whereas the Northern Indian Ocean sister-species apparently maintained a constant size with highly differentiated regional groupings that were asymmetrically connected by gene flow.

Conclusions/Significance: Past and present surface circulation patterns in conjunction with ocean primary productivity were identified as the processes most likely to have shaped the genetic structure between and within the two Indian Ocean lineages. This knowledge will help to understand the biological or ecological differences of the two sibling species and therefore aid in developing strategies to manage population outbreaks of this coral predator in the Indian Ocean.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) > Biological Sciences ( -2010)
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- )
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Crown-of-thorns starfish -- Genetics, Phylogeography, Fish populations, Indian Ocean
Journal or Publication Title: PLoS One
Publisher: Public Library of Science
ISSN: 1932-6203
Official Date: 21 August 2012
Dates:
DateEvent
21 August 2012Published
Volume: Vol.7
Number: No.8
Page Range: e43499
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043499
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder: Mayotte. Service des pêches, Mayotte. GIS LAGMAY, Five Oceans Environmental Services LLC, Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean Programme (CORDIO), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF)
Grant number: OCE-0349177 (NSF)

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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