title: Insights into the molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of the white-clawed crayfish (Decapoda, Astacidae).
abstract: In this study, the evolutionary history of the white-clawed crayfish (WCC) was evaluated using large-scale datasets comprising >1350 specimens from the entire distribution range. Using species delimitation methods on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences, we propose four primary species hypotheses for WCC. Sequences for several nuclear regions were screened but none showed significant variation within WCC. This result favours a single secondary species hypothesis and indicates the existence of a mito-nuclear discordance in WCC. Therefore, mtDNA groups were considered only as genetic units that carry information about ancient divergences within WCC and not as taxonomic units. The reconstruction of ancestral ranges and divergence time estimates were used to link the current genetic structure with paleogeographic processes. These results showed that the emergence of mtDNA groups in WCC could be related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis, the climate cooling during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and (paleo)shifting of the Adriatic Sea coastline in the Padanovenezian Plain. The most recent common ancestor of the mtDNA groups most likely originated from Dalmatia (eastern Adriatic coast) as indicated by the reconstruction of ancestral ranges. This ecoregion, along with the Gulf of Venice Drainages, harbours a high genetic diversity and should be emphasised as an area of the highest conservation priority.
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Division of Zoology, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Mišel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jelić
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Division of Zoology, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Göran I V
authors.initials: GIV
authors.lastname: Klobučar
authors.affiliation: Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, Laboratoire "Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions", équipe "Ecologie, Evolution, Symbiose", 6 rue Michel Brunet, F-86073 Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grandjean
authors.affiliation: Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité ISYEB - UMR 7205 - CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 43 rue Cuvier, CP26 F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Puillandre
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Division of Zoology, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Damjan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Franjević
authors.affiliation: University of Münster, Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Animal Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hüfferstrasse 1, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Momir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Futo
authors.affiliation: University of Iceland, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sturlugötu 7, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amouret
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Division of Zoology, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: imaguire@biol.pmf.hr.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maguire
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D004247:DNA
keywords: Austropotamobius pallipes species complex; Conservation; Reconstruction of ancestral ranges; Species delimitation; Trans-Adriatic paleodispersals