This study investigates the molecular phylogeny of seven lionfishes of the genera Dendrochirus and Pterois. MP, ML, and NJ phylogenetic analysis based on 964 bp of partial mitochondrial DNA sequences (cytochrome b and 16S rDNA) revealed two main clades: (1) "Pterois" clade (Pterois miles and Pterois volitans), and (2) "Pteropterus-Dendrochirus" clade (remainder of the sampled species). The position of Dendrochirus brachypterus either basal to the main clades or in the "Pteropterus-Dendrochirus" clade cannot be resolved. However, the molecular phylogeny did not support the current separation of the genera Pterois and Dendrochirus. The siblings P. miles and P. volitans are clearly separated and our results support the proposed allopatric or parapatric distribution in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. However, the present analysis cannot reveal if P. miles and P. volitans are separate species or two populations of a single species, because the observed separation in different clades can be either explained by speciation or lineage sorting. Molecular clock estimates for the siblings P. miles and P. volitans suggest a divergence time of 2.4-8.3 mya, which coincide with geological events that created vicariance between populations of the Indian and Pacific Ocean.

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The distribution of Octopus vulgaris has not yet been completely clarified. For a long time, a cosmopolitan distribution with unknown distribution limits had been assumed. This assumption has recently been questioned and it has been postulated that the distribution is restricted to the Mediterranean and the northeastern Atlantic. However, as our previous studies show, the existence of O. vulgaris can be confirmed for the Mediterranean and the whole eastern Atlantic, and evidence is provided for its occurrence in the western Atlantic. The aim of the present work is to extend our previous data matrix and to clarify whether O. vulgaris exists in the northwestern Pacific. Therefore, the sequence variation in ostensible O. vulgaris from 13 localities in the Mediterranean (France), the Atlantic Ocean [Lanzarote, Senegal, South Africa (Atlantic, Indian Ocean), Tristan da Cunha, north, middle and south Brazil], the Caribbean Sea (Venezuela) and the Pacific Ocean (Taiwan, Japan and Costa Rica) was examined using the mitochondrial genes coding for the 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit III (COIII). Sequence divergence was relatively low between populations of O. vulgaris from the Mediterranean, the eastern and western Atlantic (except north Brazil), Venezuela, Taiwan and Japan compared with other species of the genus Octopus. Trees constructed by using maximum likelihood, neighbour joining and maximum parsimony algorithms (PAUP) show the above-mentioned populations from the Mediterranean, the western and eastern Atlantic, Venezuela and the northwestern Pacific (Japan and Taiwan) as a monophyletic cluster.Thus, even if the Octopus vulgaris-like octopus from north Brazil should turn out a cryptic species, the data of this work not only support our hypothesis of the distribution of O. vulgaris in the Mediterranean, the eastern and western Atlantic but also show that O. vulgaris is present in the northwestern Pacific, namely in the waters of Taiwan and Japan.

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