Phylogeography of the rocky intertidal periwinkle Echinolittorina paytensis through a biogeographic transition zone in the Southeastern Pacific

Sergio P. Barahona, Ximena Vélez-Zuazo, Monica Santa-Maria, Aldo S. Pacheco

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Barriers to dispersal are recognized to play an important role in the differentiation of populations and ultimately in speciation. In the southeast Pacific, on the northern coast of Peru, a transition zone between the Peruvian and Panamic marine biogeographic provinces exists. Here, the convergence between two contrasting surface currents could generate a barrier effect for the larval dispersal of meroplanktonic invertebrates, which could in turn generate differentiated populations or genetic lineages on both sides of the transition zone. To address this, we studied to Echinolittorina paytensis, an abundant rocky intertidal periwinkle that spans both biogeographic provinces. A total of 95 individuals from Ecuador (2°19′S) to central Peru (7°31′S), covering the Panamic Province, the Peruvian Province, and the transition zone between, were collected. The mitochondrial markers cytochrome c oxidase I and 16SrRNA were sequenced in order to investigate phylogeography and genetic structuring. In general, no genetic structuring was found across the transition zone, suggesting this biogeographic boundary would not be acting as a barrier in this species. Factors such as a high larval dispersal capability and the occurrence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation events such as El Niño are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12556
JournalMarine Ecology
Volume40
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Fondecyt academic and research grant to the Master's Program on Marine Sciences at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Nº 025-2015-FONDECYT-DE). Special thanks to Dr. Dimitri Gutierrez for facilitating additional funds for completing this research. We are grateful to Bruno Ibanez-Erquiaga, Claudia Tejada, and Andre Ampuero for their valuable taxonomic advice. We also thank Johnny Davila for his help with specimens’ collection. Comments by two anonymous reviewers helped us to improve this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Blackwell Verlag GmbH

Keywords

  • ENSO
  • El Niño
  • biogeographic provinces
  • genetic structure
  • mitochondrial DNA

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