Strategic Project - LA 15 - 2011-2012

Funder

Organizational Unit

Publications

Asymmetrical dispersal and putative isolation-by-distance of an intertidal blenniid across the atlantic–mediterranean divide

Publication . Castilho, Rita; Cunha, Regina L.; Faria, Cláudia Barreiros Macedo de; Velasco, Eva Maria; Robalo, Joana Isabel

Transition zones are of high evolutionary interest because unique patterns of spatial variation are often retained. Here, we investigated the phylogeography of the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, a small marine intertidal fish that inhabits rocky habitats of the Mediterranean and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. We screened 170 individuals using mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data from eight locations. Four models of genetic structure were tested: panmixia, isolation-by-distance, secondary contact and phylogeographic break. Results indicated clear asymmetric migration from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic but only marginally supported the isolation-by-distance model. Additionally, the species displays an imprint of demographic expansion compatible with the last glacial maximum. Although the existence of a refugium in the Mediterranean cannot be discarded, the ancestral lineage most likely originated in the Atlantic, where most of the genetic diversity occurs.

2017Journal article

Open access

Two new species of Tardigrada (Eutardigrada: Ramazzottiidae, Macrobiotidae) from the supralittoral zone of the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula rocky shores

Publication . Fontoura, Paulo; Rubal, Marcos; Veiga, Puri

Two new species of Eutardigrada were found in supralittoral lichens, growing on rocky shores at two localities of the Western Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Ramazzottius littoreus sp. nov., found in San Cibrao (North of Spain), has the dorsal cuticle sculptured with small tubercles and claws with accessory points similar to R. oberhaeuseri. It can be distinguished from all the other known Ramazzottius species with the same type of cuticular sculpture by the dotted egg shell and the peculiar reticulation visible at the bulbous base of egg processes. Macrobiotus halophilus sp. nov., found in Cascais (Centre of Portugal), belongs to the Macrobiotus hufelandi group. The slightly wrinkled egg shell and egg processes in the shape of inverted chalice with dentate distal disc, identifies it as a member of the Macrobiotus persimilis subgroup. The new dioecious species differs from the six other species of the M. persimilis subgroup by a unique combination of some characters (small and very sparse circular cuticular pores, granulation on legs I–III and dentate lunules on legs IV), by measurements of some structures (claws and buccal apparatus), and by the number, dimension and shape of egg processes.

2017Journal article

Restricted access

A new Batillipes (Tardigrada, Heterotardigrada, Batillipedidae) from North Portugal (Atlantic Ocean)

Publication . Rubal, Marcos; Veiga, Puri; Fontoura, Paulo; Sousa-Pinto, Isabel

The knowledge of marine tardigrades in the Iberian Peninsula is very scarce in comparison with those from limnoterrestrial environments. As part of an effort to improve the knowledge of marine tardigrades in the Iberian Peninsula, a new species of marine tardigrade, Batillipes minius sp. nov., is described from shallow subtidal coarse sand collected at Moledo, Northern Portugal, close to the mouth of the Minho river. The new species differs from all other Batillipes species by its combination of toe pattern, dorsal and ventral lateral projections, caudal apparatus, cuticle segmentation and the presence of a dorsal indentation in its head. This new species was found in well-oxygenated, shallow subtidal, mediumcoarse sand with low organic matter content.

2017Journal article

Restricted access