Integrative approach revises the frequently misidentified species of Sardinella (Clupeidae) of the Indo‐West Pacific Ocean

Abstract

To deal with the difficulties of species differentiation and delimitation among the commercially important sardines from the genus Sardinella, an integrative approach was adopted, incorporating traditional taxonomy with four DNA markers (coI, cytb, 16s and nuclear rag2). Combining these methodologies has enabled a thorough re-description of three of the most common species of Sardinella of the Indo-west Pacific Ocean: white sardinella Sardinella albella, fringescale sardinella Sardinella fimbriata and the goldstripe sardinella Sardinella gibbosa, as well as a description of a new species, Gon's sardinella Sardinella goni, from the island of Boracay, Philippines. In addition, extensive widespread sampling of S. gibbosa reveals a significant genetic separation between the populations from the western Indian Ocean and the west Pacific Ocean, despite no supporting morphological differentiation. An updated morphological key of the species of Sardinella of the Indo-west Pacific Ocean is also provided in order to minimize future misidentifications within these economically important taxa. Finally, the genetic and morphological variabilities within and between the investigated species are used to discuss their biogeographical distribution and possible processes of speciation.

The arrival of a second ‘Lessepsian sprinter’? A first record of the red cornetfish Fistularia petimba in the Eastern Mediterranean

“…Although F. petimba is naturally distributed in the East Atlantic, with only a single documentation in the Western Mediterranean (Cárdenas & Berastegui, 1997), the genetic similarities between our specimen and published Indian samples strongly implies that the route of its invasion was through the Suez Canal, as is true for other tropical invasive fishes (Rothman et al, 2016;Stern et al, 2016).…”

Initiating DNA barcoding of Eastern Mediterranean deep-sea biota

“…650 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase sub-unit I (COI) gene for species identification. This tool is also used for spatial mapping of species boundaries and discover cryptic speciation, and may flag the existence of new species (Stern et al, 2016). When this molecular tool is linked to authoritatively identified voucher specimens (Hebert et al, 2003a, b;Ratnasingham & Hebert, 2013), it ensures results of the highest quality currently available.…”

Delimitation of Alosa species (Teleostei: Clupeiformes) from the Sea of Azov: integrating morphological and molecular approaches

“…In cases when traditional morphology‐based taxonomy fails to identify clear species boundaries, an integrative taxonomic approach provides a more holistic picture of biological systems by combining molecular and morphological information (Borsa, ; Dayrat, ; Fujita et al, ; Schlick‐Steiner et al, ; Stern et al, ; Thomas et al ., ; Victor, 2010). Phylogenetic analyses of the coI and cytb sequences generated in our study recovered two distinct clades that do not correspond to the morphological groupings based on numbers of gill rakers.…”