Cryptic diversity of the Gammarus fossarum species complex (Amphipoda) across Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians: phylogeny and lineage distribution

RUTOVÁ, Tereza, Denis COPILAS-CIOCEANU, Petr PAŘIL and Adam PETRUSEK. Cryptic diversity of the Gammarus fossarum species complex (Amphipoda) across Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians: phylogeny and lineage distribution. In Fresh Blood for Fresh Water, 9 – 13 dubna, 2017, České Budějovice. 2017.

Basic information

• Original name: Cryptic diversity of the Gammarus fossarum species complex (Amphipoda) across Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians: phylogeny and lineage distribution
• Authors: RUTOVÁ, Tereza (203 Czech Republic), Denis COPILAS-CIOCEANU (642 Romania), Petr PAŘIL (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Adam PETRUSEK (203 Czech Republic).
• Edition: Fresh Blood for Fresh Water, 9 – 13 dubna, 2017, České Budějovice, 2017.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Conference abstract
• Field of Study: 10603 Genetics and heredity
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14310/17:00096457
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• Keywords in English: gammarus; cryptic diversity; paleorefugia

Abstract

Freshwater amphipods are ecologically important component of permanent benthic macrofauna in temperate freshwaters. However, virtually nothing was known about the phylogeographic patterns of this complex in the northeastern part of its range. Region of Czechia and Slovakia, with transition from the Bohemian Massif to the Western Carpathians, is a biogeographical boundary for plants and terrestrial invertebrates. We demonstrate on this gammarid species complex that it is the case also for permanent aquatic fauna, and that ancient lineages likely persisted in the Western Carpathians throughout the Pleistocene. We analysed lineage richness and distribution from G. fossarum samples collected from more than 170 localities across Czechia and Slovakia by molecular barcoding of mitochondrial genes; their phylogeny was assessed from representative samples by sequencing of two mitochondrial and three nuclear markers. Overall, we found eight divergent lineages of apparently Miocene age with contrasting patterns of distribution: most of the Bohemian Massif has been colonised by a single recently expanded western-European lineage, while all eight lineages are scattered in a mosaic fashion in the Western Carpathians. Two lineages found in this region but not known further south are phylogenetically basal with respect to the entire species complex. These observations are consistent with a scenario that Carpathians lineages survived the Pleistocene climatic oscillations in situ, possibly facilitated by thermally buffered mineral springs that may have provided suitable conditions even in dry cold periods of the glacials. Analyses of small-scale distribution of the Carpathian lineages in the Vsetín region confirms that they often penetrate to the same streams, and may coexist upon contact. This provides a suitable model system for studying their ecological interactions in the future.