Morphological assessment of the Octopus vulgaris species complex evaluated in light of molecular‐based phylogenetic inferences |
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| Authors: | Michael D Amor Mark D Norman Alvaro Roura Tatiana S Leite Ian G Gleadall Amanda Reid Catalina Perales‐Raya Chung‐Cheng Lu Colin J Silvey Erica A G Vidal Frederick G Hochberg Xiaodong Zheng Jan M Strugnell |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia;2. Science Department, Museum Victoria, Carlton, Vic., Australia;3. Departamento de Oceanografia e Limnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil;4. International Fisheries Science Unit, Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan;5. Malacology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW, Australia;6. Instituto Espa?ol de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias. Vía Espaldón, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain;7. National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan;8. Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Pontal do Paraná, Brazil;9. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA, USA;10. Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China |
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| Abstract: | Cryptic species are common in the ocean, particularly among marine invertebrates such as octopuses. Delineating cryptic species is particularly problematic in octopus taxonomy where the plasticity recorded among taxonomic characters often results in low resolution at the species level. This study investigated the morphological relationships among seven phylogenetic clades (identified using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) of the broadly distributed Octopus vulgaris species complex and close relatives. Morphological analyses in this study were successful in delimiting O. sinensis, Brazilian O. vulgaris and O. vulgaris sensu stricto, which was congruent with the molecular findings of this study. Analyses based on male morphology were successful in distinguishing 14 of 15 total pairwise comparisons and proved to be a more reliable indicator of species‐level relationships in comparison with female morphology. The majority of characters with the greatest discriminatory power were male sexual traits. Significant morphological differences were also recorded among sampling localities of conspecifics, with phenotype showing correlation with local environmental data. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that multiple O. vulgaris‐like species are currently being incorrectly treated under a single species name, O. vulgaris. Octopuses being exported globally under the name O. vulgaris are of extremely high fisheries market value and profile. Our findings have potentially significant implications for the naming and conservation of commercially harvested members of this species complex throughout their ranges. |
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