Journal article
DNA sequencing and anatomy demonstrate that Pacific Codium simulans is a genetically variable species found in the floras of Bermuda and Florida
CW Schneider, DW Lam, H Verbruggen
Phycological Research | WILEY | Published : 2020
DOI: 10.1111/pre.12396
Abstract
When DNA sequences from Bermuda plants described as Codium isthmocladum ssp. clavatum and a recent collection from Florida originally thought to be C. decorticatum were analyzed, they were found to be a genetic match to the Pacific Mexican species C. simulans. Historical voucher collections assigned to C. isthmocladum ssp. clavatum show that this Pacific lineage has been present in Bermuda (Atlantic) waters for over a century, thus precluding a very recent introduction from the Pacific. We hypothesize that C. simulans may have hitched a ride on the ballast rocks of early commercial ships plying their trade between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Grants
Awarded by Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Funding Acknowledgements
We greatly appreciate Philippe Rouja's assistance with the underwater archaeology literature for Bermuda, Trey Melton and Ana Tronholm for the Florida collection, and Joana Costa and Chiela Cremen for assistance in the lab. Special thanks to Rosa and Ginny Schneider for equipment monitoring at Walsingham Pond. This work was supported by National Science Foundation (US) DEB grant 1120688 and the Charles A. Dana Foundation to CWS, and the Australian Research Council (FT110100585) and Australian Biological Resources Study (RFL213-08) to HV. This is contribution no. 268 to the Bermuda Biodiversity Project (BBP) of the Bermuda Aquarium, Natural History Museum and Zoo (BAMZ), Department of Environment and Natural Resources.