New species of fish described from Carrie Bow Cay
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- A male Starksia weigti n. sp. Click to expand. Image from Baldwin et al., 2011.
There is often more than meets the eye when it comes to fish- something that Carrie Bow Cay visiting scientist Dr. Carole Baldwin and her colleagues are finding out. They are combining modern genetic analysis with traditional morphological comparisons to re-examine fish species that were, in some cases, originally described over 100 years ago. After analyzing what were once thought to be three species of Starksia sp. blennies, they found ten, with seven species new to science.
Starksia blennies are small fish with elongated bodies, generally inhabiting shallow to moderately deep rock and coral reefs in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. Modern DNA barcoding techniques suggested that this group deserved some more attention. While trying to match larval stages of coral reef fish to adult forms, the team of scientists noticed contradictions between the preliminary genetic data and the current species classification. Further investigation revealed that the team was dealing with new species in numerous groups of fishes, including Starksia blennies.
There was an interesting spatial aspect as well: the three original blennies were thought to be broadly distributed throughout the Caribbean. In reality, each of the three known Starksia species contained three or four new species with geographically restricted ranges. Three of these new species restricted to the western Caribbean were collected from the area around Carrie Bow Cay Field Station. (See Map)
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- Distribution of species in the Starksia atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri complexes. Click to expand. From Baldwin et al., 2011.
"DNA analysis has offered science a great new resource to examine old questions," said Dr. Baldwin. "This discovery is a perfect example of how DNA barcoding is illuminating species that we've missed before, particularly small cryptic reef fishes like Starksia blennies. We don't know where we stand in terms of understanding species diversity, and our work suggests that current concepts may be surprisingly incomplete."
Their paper examines the genetic lineages within each of the three original blenny species. Only when diagnostic morphological features supported the genetic data did they recognize them as a new species. Traditional morphological analysis, such as comparing patterns of pigmentation and numbers of fin rays, were used to solidify their findings.
Baldwin predicts that other widespread species in the genus may also represent species complexes that break into multiple, geographically distinct species after further study. Furthermore, the team's DNA data suggest that other types of Caribbean fish (e.g., some gobies) may similarly represent species complexes comprising numerous new species, and traditional concepts of speciation in the Caribbean may need to be re-evaluated.
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- A female Starksia sangreyae n. sp. Click to expand. Image from Baldwin et al., 2011.
The team's combined molecular and morphological approach has not only increased the number of currently recognized species, it serves as an example of the continuing nature of scientific discovery. Because the resiliency of marine populations to human exploitation may be linked to species richness, an improved understanding of the diversity and distribution of reef life may be critical.
Their paper is published in the scientific journal ZooKeys, and is CCRE contribution number 898. ZooKeys is an open access online journal. Link to original article..
Citation:
Baldwin, C., Castillo, C., Weigt, L., Victor, B. 2011. Seven new species within western Atlantic Starksia atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri (Teleostei, Labrisomidae), with comments on congruence of DNA barcodes and species. ZooKeys 79: 21-72. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.79.1045
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