On the species identity of a tropical oyster (Bivalvia, Ostreidae, Dendostrea) invading the eastern Mediterranean Sea

By

Oliver, Graham
Garzia, Matt
Paulay, Gustav
Salvi, Daniele

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-6-27

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1243

Pages

207--224

Subjects

Alien species , bronze tree oyster , COI , DNA barcoding , leaf oyster , NIS , Nomenclature , non-indigenous species , shell morphology , taxonomy , tree oyster , true oyster

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1243.152856

 

Abstract

Molecular and morphological data suggest that the Mediterranean populations of the non-indigenous genus Dendostrea are part of a single clade. This clade includes oysters from Rodrigues but is distinct from oysters from Hawaii and Mauritius. Based on morphology and sequence data, the Hawaiian and Mauritian oysters can be referred to as Dendostrea sandvichensis Sowerby, 1871. The Mediterranean/Rodrigues clade, although morphologically very similar to D. sandvichensis, is significantly genetically distant from it and from D. frons and D. folium. As a result, the Mediterranean/Rodrigues clade cannot be assigned to any currently accepted nominal species. However, the statuses of the junior synonyms of D. sandvichensis are based on morphology and are therefore reconsidered with the result that D. crenulifera Sowerby, 1871 is shown to be morphologically very similar to the Mediterranean/Rodrigues clade. Given that the type locality of D. crenulifera is the Red Sea, and that Mediterranean populations are considered tropical invaders, D. crenulifera is a likely candidate name. However, without supporting sequence data from the type locality in the Red Sea, we conservatively conclude that the most appropriate name for the Mediterranean/Rodrigues clade is Dendostrea cf. crenulifera (Sowerby, 1871).