First record of Ruppia maritima in West Africa supported by morphological description and phylogenetic classification

José Martínez-Garrido; Joel C. Creed; Samir Martins; Carmen H. Almada; Ester A. Serrão

doi:10.1515/bot-2016-0128

Article

First record of Ruppia maritima in West Africa supported by morphological description and phylogenetic classification

José Martínez-Garrido is a PhD student at the Department of Marine Science and Applied Biology in Alicante University (Spain) and the Biogeographical Evolution and Ecology group of Centro de Ciências do Mar in Portugal. His PhD study is focused on the systematics, speciation processes and genetic structure of the genus Ruppia. Over the last years, he has participated in molecular ecology and biodiversity projects of marine plants, algae and animals. He is also interested in the implications of this knowledge in the effective management of marine biodiversity.
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Joel C. Creed is an associate professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Creed graduated in Botany with Marine Botany (University of Wales Bangor, UK) in 1989 and received his PhD in 1993 at the University of Liverpool, UK. His research focuses on the biology and ecology of marine plants and invertebrates on rocky shores and coral reefs, and in seagrass and macroalgae habitats. He has been coauthor on 69 publications in these fields.
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Samir Martins is a conservation biologist from Cabo Verde Islands, with a special interest in animal ecology. His research interest is focused on sea turtle response to environmental changes and the effects on offspring survival. He has participated actively in all aspects and phases of important projects regarding Cape Verde sea turtle conservation. Currently, he is involved in conservation activities for all endangered species (sea turtles, whales and birds) and a Marine Protection Area, the definition of ecotourism guidelines and information, education and awareness activities addressed to the local people in as well as visitors of Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde.
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Carmen H. Almada has a PhD in Coastal Zone Management, an MSc in Ecology and a BA in Marine Biology. Her PhD thesis deals with the flora and ecology of the benthic algae of the Cape Verde Islands. She is a biologist specializing in marine botany, with experience in phycology. She has also conducted research at University of Gran Canaria (Spain) and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). At present, her research is centered on the study of macroalgae and seagrasses of the Cape Verde Islands, with a focus on taxonomy, ecology and conservation.
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Ester A. Serrão (lecturer at the University of Algarve) coordinates a research team at CCMAR-Centre for Marine Sciences, which aims to understand patterns and processes mediating marine genetic diversity, function and evolution, from ecological to deep evolutionary scales. Her research topics include causes and consequences of genetic biodiversity, population dispersal/connectivity, environmental genomics and adaptive evolution, in the context of climate and environmental change. These are studied across the diversity of marine systems ranging from microorganisms to large marine forests.

Published/Copyright: July 28, 2017

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From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 60 Issue 5

Abstract

Ruppiamaritima (widgeon grass) has been identified phylogenetically for the first time from West Africa (Santiago Island, Cape Verde). Genetic markers distinguished this species from the tetraploid Ruppia cf. maritima previously known from West Africa. Taxonomic description, photographs and molecular phylogenetic classification are provided here. The results show that, in Cape Verde, the species is phylogenetically closer to European and northeast American than to Indo-Pacific populations. This study extends the known distribution of R. maritima, an ecosystem structuring species that provides essential habitat for threatened animals.

Keywords: molecular phylogenetic; morphological traits; Ruppia genus; seagrass; waterbirds

About the authors

José Martínez-Garrido

José Martínez-Garrido is a PhD student at the Department of Marine Science and Applied Biology in Alicante University (Spain) and the Biogeographical Evolution and Ecology group of Centro de Ciências do Mar in Portugal. His PhD study is focused on the systematics, speciation processes and genetic structure of the genus Ruppia. Over the last years, he has participated in molecular ecology and biodiversity projects of marine plants, algae and animals. He is also interested in the implications of this knowledge in the effective management of marine biodiversity.

Joel C. Creed

Joel C. Creed is an associate professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Creed graduated in Botany with Marine Botany (University of Wales Bangor, UK) in 1989 and received his PhD in 1993 at the University of Liverpool, UK. His research focuses on the biology and ecology of marine plants and invertebrates on rocky shores and coral reefs, and in seagrass and macroalgae habitats. He has been coauthor on 69 publications in these fields.

Samir Martins

Samir Martins is a conservation biologist from Cabo Verde Islands, with a special interest in animal ecology. His research interest is focused on sea turtle response to environmental changes and the effects on offspring survival. He has participated actively in all aspects and phases of important projects regarding Cape Verde sea turtle conservation. Currently, he is involved in conservation activities for all endangered species (sea turtles, whales and birds) and a Marine Protection Area, the definition of ecotourism guidelines and information, education and awareness activities addressed to the local people in as well as visitors of Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde.

Carmen H. Almada

Carmen H. Almada has a PhD in Coastal Zone Management, an MSc in Ecology and a BA in Marine Biology. Her PhD thesis deals with the flora and ecology of the benthic algae of the Cape Verde Islands. She is a biologist specializing in marine botany, with experience in phycology. She has also conducted research at University of Gran Canaria (Spain) and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). At present, her research is centered on the study of macroalgae and seagrasses of the Cape Verde Islands, with a focus on taxonomy, ecology and conservation.

Ester A. Serrão

Ester A. Serrão (lecturer at the University of Algarve) coordinates a research team at CCMAR-Centre for Marine Sciences, which aims to understand patterns and processes mediating marine genetic diversity, function and evolution, from ecological to deep evolutionary scales. Her research topics include causes and consequences of genetic biodiversity, population dispersal/connectivity, environmental genomics and adaptive evolution, in the context of climate and environmental change. These are studied across the diversity of marine systems ranging from microorganisms to large marine forests.

Acknowledgments

We thank Cymon Cox for manuscript revision and Peter Wirtz for helping with the collection and for providing the photo. This study was made possible given the support from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (program PGCD), Portugal, and the Cape Verde University. It was also funded by FCT, the Portuguese Science Foundation (CCMAR-UID/Multi/04326/2013) and the Pew Foundation Marine Fellow program (EAS). JCC was supported by CAPES (Ciências do Mar 1137/2010), FAPERJ (E26/201.286/2014), and CNPq (305330/2010-1).

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Received: 2016-12-5

Accepted: 2017-6-30

Published Online: 2017-7-28

Published in Print: 2017-8-28

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2016-0128

Keywords for this article

molecular phylogenetic; morphological traits; Ruppia genus; seagrass; waterbirds