Meeting Abstract
Numerous cryptic species complexes are being revealed in large-scale marine biodiversity studies with molecular techniques. Cryptic complexes are especially prevalent among widely distributed species, emphasize the need to reexamine and revise much of marine taxonomy, and suggest that a large fraction of marine diversity remains to be discovered. We analyzed Ophiolepis cincta Müller & Troschel, 1842 a well-known tropical Indo-west Pacific brittle star, mainly found in shallow waters, from 1 to 40 m. While morphological variation has been noted in the past across the range, it has not been studied in detail, and only one of the forms has been described. We studied 140 specimens from across the range of this complex morphologically and sequenced a portion of the Cytrochome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene when possible. Morphological study revealed several novel characters, not only within the species complex, but also some that can be used to better characterize the genus and family. These new characters allowed separation of O. cincta into nineteen morphotypes. COI sequences revealed twelve deeply divergent, reciprocally monophyletic lineages, all corresponding to distinct morphotypes, demonstrating that these lineages represent different species. The current distribution of the species complex is ranging from Saudi Arabia to French Polynesia. Across its range we noted that some localities only have a single particular morphotype, while others consist of more than one.
