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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Cryptic species, life cycles, and the phylogeny of Clytia (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Campanulariidae)

Author(s):
Lindner, Alberto [1] ; Govindarajan, Annette F. [2, 3] ; Migotto, Alvaro E. [4, 5]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Fed Santa Catarina, Dept Ecol & Zool, BR-88040970 Florianopolis, SC - Brazil
[2] Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Dept Biol, Woods Hole, MA 02543 - USA
[3] Northeastern Univ, Earth & Environm Sci Dept, Boston, MA 02115 - USA
[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Biol Marinha, BR-11600970 Sao Sebastiao, SP - Brazil
[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, BR-11600970 Sao Sebastiao, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 5
Document type: Journal article
Source: Zootaxa; n. 2980, p. 23-36, JUL 29 2011.
Web of Science Citations: 26
Abstract

Medusae and polyps of Clytia are abundantly found in coastal marine environments and one species in the genus-Clytia hemisphaerica (Linnaeus, 1767)-has become an important experimental model. Yet, only 10 species in the genus have had their life cycle investigated. Most species of Clytia are also poorly described, and detailed life cycle and morphological studies are needed for accurate species-level identifications. Here, we investigated the life cycle of Clytia elsaeoswaldae Stechow, 1914, a species described for the tropical western Atlantic and subsequently considered conspecific to the nearly-cosmopolitan species Clytia gracilis (Sars, 1850) and Clytia hemisphaerica, originally described for the temperate North Atlantic. Based on observations of mature medusae and multiple colonies from southeastern Brazil and the U. S. Virgin Islands (type locality), our results show that C. elsaeoswaldae is morphologically distinct from C. gracilis and C. hemisphaerica. The morphological results are corroborated by a multigene phylogenetic analysis of the genus Clytia, which shows that C. gracilis-like species form a polyphyletic group of several species. These results suggest that the nearly-cosmopolitan distribution attributed to some species of Clytia may be due to the non-recognition of morphologically similar species with more restricted ranges. (AU)