Are Acila divaricata and Acila mirabilis One Species or Two Distinct Species? Evidence from COI Mito

• 作 者: ZHANG Junlong SHI Huafeng XU F
• 机 构: Institute of 0ceanology
• 出 处: 中国海洋大学学报（英文版）
• 发表日期: 2004年期
• 关键词: cytochrome oxidase I molecular taxonomy Bivalvia Acila distribution

Acila divaricata (Hinds, 1843) and A. mirabilis (Adams and Reeve, 1850) are common benthic bivalves in China. A number of researchers have proposed that the latter species is a junior synonym of the former species. Because of morphological similarities, it is difficult to distinguish these two species based on visual examination only. For better understanding of their taxon-omy, the mitochondrial COI gene fragments of five individuals of A. divaricata from the East China Sea and six individuals of A. mirabilis from the Yellow Sea were sequenced in this study. The phylogenetic relationships of the obtained COI sequences, together with nineteen sequences of three species of the genus Nucula, were analyzed. The pairwise intra-and inter-specific distances for the COI sequences ranged from 0.002 to 0.017 and from 0.128 to 0.134, respectively, and no overlap was found. Phylogenetically, A. divaricata and A. mirabilis form distinct clades and cluster into a sister to all other Nucula species. The results indicated that A. di-varicata and A. mirabilis are two distinct species. The differences in the morphology and distribution between the two species were briefly discussed.