The solitary ascidian Ascidiella aspersa (Müller, 1776) has sometimes been regarded as conspecific with A. scabra (Müller, 1776), although previous detailed morphological comparisons have indicated that the two are distinguishable by internal structures. Resolution of this taxonomic issue is important because A. aspersa has been known as a notoriously invasive ascidian, doing much damage to aquaculture e.g. in Hokkaido, Japan. We collected many specimens from European waters (including the Swedish coast, near the type localities of these two species) and Hokkaido, Japan (as an alien population) and made molecular phylogenetic analyses using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and found that in terms of COI sequences all the analyzed specimens were clustered into two distinct groups, one of which is morphologically referable to A. aspersa and the other to A. scabra. Thus, these two species should be regarded as distinct from each other.
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1 March 2014
Molecular and Morphological Discrimination Between an Invasive Ascidian, Ascidiella aspersa, and Its Congener A. scabra (Urochordata: Ascidiacea)
Teruaki Nishikawa,
Ichiro Oohara,
Kenji Saitoh,
Yuya Shigenobu,
Natsuki Hasegawa,
Makoto Kanamori,
Katsuhisa Baba,
Xavier Turon,
John D. D. Bishop
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Zoological Science
Vol. 31 • No. 3
March 2014
Vol. 31 • No. 3
March 2014
Ascidiella aspersa
Ascidiella scabra
invasive ascidian
molecular analysis
morphology
species
taxonomy