Neglected refugia of biodiversity: Mountainous regions in Mozambique and Malawi yield two novel freshwater crab species (Potamonautidae: Potamonautes)

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dc.contributor.authorDaniels S.R.
dc.contributor.authorBayliss J.
dc.date.accessioned2012-04-12T08:21:53Z
dc.date.available2012-04-12T08:21:53Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractPhylogenetic relationships amongst the southern African freshwater crab fauna are reinvestigated following the recent collection of morphologically distinct Potamonautes specimens from remote mountainous regions in Malawi and Mozambique. Specimens were subjected to DNA sequencing of three mtDNA loci, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA and compared to the 14 described species from the region. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference revealed the presence of two novel evolutionary lineages. The phylogeny demonstrates that Potamonautes obesus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1868) is sister to a morphologically distinct novel species from Mount Namuli in Mozambique. Two sympatric and genetically distinct species from Mount Mulanje, in Malawi (forms A and B) were recognized. Form B is sister to the large-bodied South African riverine freshwater crabs and represents a novel lineage whereas the remaining species (form A) from Mulanje, in Malawi was sister to samples from Mounts Inago and Mabu, and in Mozambique was identified as Potamonautes choloensis (Chace, 1953). The two novel evolutionary lineages were genetically distinct and morphologically different from the described species in each of the respective regions. Two new freshwater crab species Potamonautes namuliensis sp. nov. and Potamonautes mulanjeensis sp. nov., are described in the present study. The samples from Mount Mulanje in Malawi, and Mounts Mabu and Inago in Mozambique represent new distribution records for Potamonautes choloensis. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London.
dc.identifier.citationZoological Journal of the Linnean Society
dc.identifier.citation164
dc.identifier.citation3
dc.identifier.citation498
dc.identifier.citation509
dc.identifier.issn244082
dc.identifier.other10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00773.x
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20606
dc.subjectEndemism
dc.subjectFreshwater biodiversity
dc.subjectMolecular systematics
dc.subjectNovel species
dc.subjectSouthern African freshwater crabs
dc.titleNeglected refugia of biodiversity: Mountainous regions in Mozambique and Malawi yield two novel freshwater crab species (Potamonautidae: Potamonautes)
dc.typeArticle
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