title: Himantura tutul sp. nov. (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae), a new ocellated whipray from the tropical Indo-West Pacific, described from its cytochrome-oxidase I gene sequence.
abstract: It has been previously established that the Leopard Whipray, Himantura leoparda, consists of two genetically isolated, cryptic species, provisionally designated as 'Cluster 1' and 'Cluster 4' (Arlyza et al., Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 65 (2013) [1]). Here, we show that the two cryptic species differ by the spotting patterns on the dorsal surface of adults: Cluster-4 individuals tend to have larger-ocellated spots, which also more often have a continuous contour than Cluster-1 individuals. We show that H. leoparda's holotype has the typical larger-ocellated spot pattern, designating Cluster 4 as the actual H. leoparda. The other species (Cluster 1) is described as Himantura tutul sp. nov. on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of a 655-base pair fragment of its cytochrome-oxidase I gene (GenBank accession No. JX263335). Nucleotide synapomorphies at this locus clearly distinguish H. tutul sp. nov. from all three other valid species in the H. uarnak species complex, namely H. leoparda, H. uarnak, and H. undulata. H. tutul sp. nov. has a wide distribution in the Indo-West Pacific, from the shores of eastern Africa to the Indo-Malay archipelago. H. leoparda under its new definition has a similarly wide Indo-West Pacific distribution.
authors.affiliation: Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), UR 227 Biocomplexité des écosystèmes récifaux, Montpellier, France. philippe.borsa@ird.fr
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borsa
authors.forename: Jean-Dominique
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: Kang-Ning
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Irma S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Arlyza
authors.forename: Dedy D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Solihin
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berrebi
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D019156:Indian Ocean; D007214:Indonesia; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010802:Phylogeny; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012860:Skates, Fish / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013045:Species Specificity; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV