title: Integrated Taxonomy Reveals Hidden Diversity in Northern Australian Fishes: A New Species of Seamoth (Genus Pegasus).
abstract: Fishes are one of the most intensively studied marine taxonomic groups yet cryptic species are still being discovered. An integrated taxonomic approach is used herein to delineate and describe a new cryptic seamoth (genus Pegasus) from what was previously a wide-ranging species. Preliminary mitochondrial DNA barcoding indicated possible speciation in Pegasus volitans specimens collected in surveys of the Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef off Queensland in Australia. Morphological and meristic investigations found key differences in a number of characters between P. volitans and the new species, P. tetrabelos. Further mt DNA barcoding of both the COI and the slower mutating 16S genes of additional specimens provided strong support for two separate species. Pegasus tetrabelos and P. volitans are sympatric in northern Australia and were frequently caught together in trawls at the same depths.
authors.affiliation: Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Osterhage
authors.affiliation: Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pogonoski
authors.affiliation: Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Appleyard
authors.affiliation: Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011793:Queensland; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S