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DNA sequencing and anatomy demonstrate that Pacific Codium simulans is a genetically variable species found in the floras of Bermuda and Florida
Author(s) -
Schneider Craig W.,
Lam Daryl W.,
Verbruggen Heroen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1111/pre.12396
Subject(s) - biology , ballast , pacific ocean , dna sequencing , botany , ecology , oceanography , dna , genetics , geology
SUMMARY When DNA sequences from Bermuda plants described as Codium isthmocladum ssp. clavatum and a recent collection from Florida originally thought to be C. decorticatum were analyzed, they were found to be a genetic match to the Pacific Mexican species C. simulans . Historical voucher collections assigned to C. isthmocladum ssp. clavatum show that this Pacific lineage has been present in Bermuda (Atlantic) waters for over a century, thus precluding a very recent introduction from the Pacific. We hypothesize that C. simulans may have hitched a ride on the ballast rocks of early commercial ships plying their trade between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.