Abstract

JUAREZ, OE; ROSAS, C  and  ARENA-ORTIZ, ML. Phylogenetic relationships of Octopus maya revealed by mtDNA sequences. Cienc. mar [online]. 2012, vol.38, n.3, pp.563-575. ISSN 0185-3880.  https://doi.org/10.7773/cm.v38i3.1962.

The phylogenic relationships among the Octopus species have not been fully established. We compared sequences for three mitochondrial genes (16S ribosomal RNA, cytochrome oxydase I, and cytochrome oxydase III) from Octopus maya, an endemic taxon of the Yucatan Peninsula, with homologous sequences from other taxa within the Octopus genus, with the aim of elucidating the phylogenetic relationships of this species. Maximum likelihood trees grouped O. maya with octopuses that inhabit the East Pacific. Considering that the distribution of O. maya is limited to the Yucatan peninsula in the West Atlantic and that the sequences analyzed show equal evolutionary rates across taxa, we propose that the divergence of O. maya possibly started during the formation of the Panama Isthmus, when the Pacific and Atlantic basins were split. The genetic distances that O. maya sequences show within the trees obtained are in the range of congeneric distances of other taxa in this genus so that these sequences are characters that support the inclusion of O. maya within the genus Octopus.

Keywords : Octopus; phylogeny; COI; COIII; 16S rRNA.

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