Journal
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
Volume 142, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106643
Keywords
Subterranean fauna; Species delineation; Endemism
Funding
- Australian Research Council [LP100200494, LP140100555]
- Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) honours scholarship [CH217-18]
- Gorgon Barrow Island Net Conservation Benefits Fund
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (WA)
- Gorgon Barrow Island Net Conservation Benefits Advisory Board
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Like other crustacean families, the Parabathynellidae is a poorly studied subterranean and aquatic (stygobiontic) group in Australia, with many regions of available habitat having not yet been surveyed. Here we used a combined approach of molecular species delimitation methods, applied to mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data, to identify putative new species from material obtained from remote subterranean habitats in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Based on collections from these new localities, we delineated a minimum of eight and up to 24 putative new species using a consensus from a range of molecular delineation methods and additional evidence. When we placed our new putative species into the broader phylogenetic framework of Australian Parabathynellidae, they grouped with two known genera and also within one new and distinct Pilbara-only clade. These new species significantly expand the known diversity of Parabathynellidae in that they represent a 22% increase to the 109 currently recognised species globally. Our investigations showed that sampling at new localities can yield extraordinary levels of new species diversity, with the majority of species showing likely restricted endemic geographical ranges. These findings represent only a small sample from a region comprising less than 2.5% of the Australian continent.
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