The first record of Tremoctopus violaceus sensu stricto Delle Chiaje,1830 in southwestern Gulf of Mexico gives a hint of the taxonomic status of Tremoctopus gracilis

By

Jimenez Badillo, Maria de Lourdes
Meiners Mandujano, César
Galindo-Cortes, Gabriela
Morillo Velarde, Piedad S.
González-Gómez, Roberto
Barriga-Sosa, Irene de los Ángeles
Pliego-Cárdenas, Ricardo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1012

Pages

55--69

Subjects

16S haplotype , Blanket octopus , genetic divergence , Geographic distribution , new record , range extension Mexico , Veracruz Reef System

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1012.55718

 

Abstract

Knowledge on species taxonomic identity is essential to understand biological and biogeographical processes and for studies on biodiversity. Species the genus Tremoctopus have been confused in the past and are inconsistently identified. To clarify of the taxonomic diagnosis Tremoctopus violaceus Delle Chiaje, 1830, an evaluation of morphological and meristic characters, as well as morphometric indices and genetic analyses, was undertaken. The analyzed octopod was an opportunistically collected mature female of 640 mm in total length, with a mantle length of 135 mm and a total weight of 1.02 kg. Evidence of autotomy as a defensive mechanism for protecting the egg mass is presented. The 16S haplotype sequenced from this specimen represents the first one publicly available for this species from the Gulf of Mexico. The genetic divergence between this haplotype and those reported from the Pacific Ocean is representative of interspecific variation in other taxa, which suggests that “T. violaceus” in the Pacific Ocean (KY649286, MN435565, and AJ252767) should be addressed as T. gracilis instead. Genetic evidence to separate T. violaceus and T. gracilis is presented. The studied specimen from the Gulf of Mexico represents the westernmost known occurrence of T. violaceus and the first record from the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.