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DNA barcoding of the northern N ortheast A tlantic skates ( C hondrichthyes, R ajiformes), with remarks on the widely distributed starry ray
Author(s) -
Lynghammar Arve,
Christiansen Jørgen S.,
Griffiths Andrew M.,
Fevolden SveinErik,
Hop Haakon,
Bakken Torkild
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
zoologica scripta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1463-6409
pISSN - 0300-3256
DOI - 10.1111/zsc.12064
Subject(s) - biology , fauna , radiata , dna barcoding , taxon , species complex , zoology , phylogenetic tree , ecology , botany , genetics , gene , vigna
The skate fauna in the northern N ortheast ( NE ) A tlantic is poorly investigated, and misidentifications are common. Here, ‘ DNA barcoding’ was used to analyse 105 specimens of 15 species previously reported from the area to investigate the occurrence of species. Of these 15 species, three were new to the region and confirmed with voucher specimens. Three previously reported taxa were not obtained from the study area, providing a total number of 12 skate species for the northern NE Atlantic. Only one specimen of the critically endangered D ipturus batis complex was found. It occurs frequently in the literature and commercial fisheries catch records, and we argue that the vast majority of these are misidentifications. Due to striking differences in A mblyraja radiata life history parameters across the N orth A tlantic, cryptic species diversity has previously been suspected. A total of 80 A . radiata cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences from across the N orth A tlantic were sampled, and the highest fixation index ( F ST ) was found when maximising geographical distance ( F ST = 0.133). A lower index was found when grouped according to life history ( F ST = 0.067). These results are not strongly supportive for the occurrence of cryptic species.