Population variability among the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen populations from Brazil and the North Atlantic evaluated through morphological and molecular tools

• Grant number: 14/10639-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2014
• End date: May 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Luis Medina Mantelatto
• Grantee: Silvia Sayuri Mandai
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 10/50188-8 - Decapod crustaceans: multi-disciplinary characterization of the sea biodiversity of the State of São Paulo (taxonomy, spermiotaxonomy, molecular biology and population dynamics), AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Studies on intraspecific variability allow the verification of the effects of microevolutive forces on populations, improving the comprehension of the processes involved in speciation and population differentiation. Some studies have shown high genetic divergence among decapod Crustacean populations with wide geographic distribution, particularly for those inhabitants of the western Atlantic coast. Thus, individuals with wide latitudinal distribution in this environment represent great models to analyze this situation, such as the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen. This species also has a gap in its distribution that coincides with the Amazon River mouth. The freshwater volume that enters into the coast changes drastically the salinity of the region, which can represent an important physiological barrier for larval dispersion of this species among the Caribbean and South Atlantic populations. Therefore, morphological and genetic variation will be evaluated among the populations of Calcinus tibicen from Brazil and other regions throughout its distribution. The analysis will be conducted by morphological studies in adults, as well as molecular studies, using the mitochondrial genes 16S and COI. Then it will be possible to analyze the differences between individuals from the analyzed populations, as well as the relationship and the genetic distance among them, and to evaluate the percentage of the variation, verifying the level of genetic subdivision among them, and the potential existence of more than one species.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MANDAI, SILVIA SAYURI; BURANELLI, RAQUEL CORREA; MANTELATTO, FERNANDO LUIS. Color patterns of the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen (Herbst, 1791) fail to indicate high genetic variation within COI gene. Nauplius, v. 26, MAR 26 2018. (14/10639-1, 09/54931-0, 10/50188-8)

MANDAI, SILVIA SAYURI; BURANELLI, RAQUEL CORREA; SCHUBART, CHRISTOPH D.; MANTELATTO, FERNANDO L.. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences based on two DNA markers reveal geographic structure of the orangeclaw hermit crab Calcinus tibicen (Anomura: Diogenidae) in the western Atlantic. MARINE BIOLOGY RESEARCH, v. 14, n. 6, p. 565-580, 2018. (09/54931-0, 14/10639-1, 10/50188-8)