title: Species delineation and evolutionary history of the globally distributed spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari).
abstract: The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), a large coral reef-associated batoid of conservation concern, is currently described as a single, circumglobally distributed species. However, geographic differences in its morphology and parasite diversity have raised unconfirmed suspicions that A. narinari may constitute a species complex. We used 1570 bp of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data (cytochrome b, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, and internal transcribed spacer 2) to assess the validity of A. narinari as a single cosmopolitan species and infer its evolutionary history. Specimens from 4 major geographic regions were examined: the Central Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, Western Pacific, and Central Pacific. Phylogenies described 3 distinct, reciprocally monophyletic lineages with no genetic exchange among regions. Based on combined genealogical concordance and genetic distance criteria, we recommend that the Western/Central Pacific lineage be recognized as a distinct species from lineages in the Central Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. The latter 2 lineages, separated by the Isthmus of Panama, are proposed as subspecies. A basal position in phylogenetic analyses and statistical parsimony results support an Indo-West Pacific origin for the A. narinari species complex, with subsequent westerly dispersal around the southern tip of Africa into the Atlantic and then into the Eastern Pacific.
authors.affiliation: National Coral Reef Institute, Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL 33004, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Marcy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Witzell
authors.forename: Mahmood S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shivji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018940:Elasmobranchii / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity