title: Toward an inordinate fondness for stars, beetles and Lobophora? Species diversity of the genus Lobophora (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) in New Caledonia.
abstract: Until the recent use of molecular markers, species diversity of Lobophora, an ecologically important brown algal genus with a worldwide distribution in temperate and tropical seas, has been critically underestimated. Using a DNA-based taxonomic approach, we re-examined diversity of the genus from New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. First, species were delineated using general mixed Yule coalescent-based and barcoding gap approaches applied to a mitochondrial cox3 data set. Results were subsequently confirmed using chloroplast psbA and rbcL data sets. Species delimitation analyses agreed well across markers and delimitation algorithms, with the barcoding gap approach being slightly more conservative. Analyses of the cox3 data set resulted in 31-39 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), four of which are previously described species (L. asiatica, L. crassa, L. nigrescens s.l., L. pachyventera). Of the remaining MOTUs for which we obtained a representative number of sequences and results are corroborated across analyses and genes, we described 10 species de novo: L. abaculusa, L. abscondita, L. densa, L. dimorpha, L. gibbera, L. hederacea, L. monticola, L. petila, L. rosacea, and L. undulata. Our study presents an excellent case of how a traditional morphology-based taxonomy fails to provide accurate estimates of algal diversity. Furthermore, the level of Lobophora diversity unveiled from a single locality in the Pacific Ocean raises important questions with respect to the global diversity of the genus, the distributions and range sizes of the individual species, as well as the mechanisms facilitating coexistence.
authors.affiliation: CoRéUs, LabEx-CORAIL, U227 "Biocomplexité des écosystèmes coralliens", Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, B.P. A5, 98848 Nouméa Cedex, Nouvelle-Calédonie, France.|Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, IFD, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France.|Phycology Research Group and Center for Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), Ghent, B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Phycology Research Group and Center for Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), Ghent, B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: D'hondt
authors.affiliation: Phycology Research Group and Center for Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), Ghent, B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: De Clerck
authors.affiliation: CoRéUs, LabEx-CORAIL, U227 "Biocomplexité des écosystèmes coralliens", Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, B.P. A5, 98848 Nouméa Cedex, Nouvelle-Calédonie, France.
authors.forename: Claude E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Payri
keywords: ABGD; GMYC; Lobophora; New Caledonia; new species; phylogeny; species delimitation; taxonomy