Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Australian Journal of Zoology Australian Journal of Zoology Society
Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Genetic structure and new occurrence records of the iconic Tasmanian mountain shrimp Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson, 1893) (Anaspidesidae : Anaspidacea) reveal relictual distribution in southern Tasmania

Christoph G. Höpel https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6827-3767 A C , Shane T. Ahyong B and Stefan Richter A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Allgemeine and Spezielle Zoologie, Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universität Rostock, Universitätsplatz 2, 18055 Rostock, Germany.

B Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia, and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: christoph.hoepel@uni-rostock.de

Australian Journal of Zoology 68(1) 45-53 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO20100
Submitted: 23 December 2020  Accepted: 11 March 2021   Published: 9 April 2021

Abstract

The iconic ‘mountain shrimps’ of the genus Anaspides Thomson, 1894, are endemic to Tasmania, inhabiting various freshwater habitats such as mountain tarns and creeks, as well as streams inside caves. They are often labelled as ‘living fossils’ because of their close resemblance to their Triassic relatives. Prior to 2015, only two species were recognised but recent studies have uncovered a total of at least seven species. The type species of Anaspides, A. tasmaniae (Thomson, 1893), was previously believed to occur throughout Tasmania, but following a review in 2016, this species was confirmed only from a small range on the east and south-east side of Mt Wellington, with Anaspides from other parts of Tasmania referable to other species. We herein provide a detailed assessment of the distribution and genetic structure of A. tasmaniae based on extensive field surveys throughout the ranges of all species of Anaspides. The distribution of A. tasmaniae is extended to include four separate localities in and around the Mt Field National Park, 50 km north-west of Mt Wellington. The recovered genetic structure of A. tasmaniae based on 48 specimens indicates that the disjunct distribution is unlikely to be the result of artificial translocation but, instead, probably reflects postglacial relictualisation of a formerly continuous range present during Pleistocene glacial maxima. Of particular interest is the record of syntopy in Anaspides, observed at the entrance of Khazad Dum cave, where both A. tasmaniae and A. swaini inhabit the inflow stream.

Keywords: Anaspidacea, Anaspidesidae, Anaspides tasmaniae, conservation, endemic, genetic structure, glaciation, mountain shrimp, relictual distribution, Tasmania.


References

Ahyong, S. T. (2015). Preliminary diagnoses of three new species of Tasmanian mountain shrimps, Anaspides Thomson, 1894 (Syncarida, Anaspidacea, Anaspididae). Zootaxa 3957, 596–599.
Preliminary diagnoses of three new species of Tasmanian mountain shrimps, Anaspides Thomson, 1894 (Syncarida, Anaspidacea, Anaspididae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 26249099PubMed |

Ahyong, S. T. (2016). The Tasmanian mountain shrimps, Anaspides Thomson, 1894 (Crustacea, Syncarida, Anaspididae). Records of the Australian Museum 68, 313–364.
The Tasmanian mountain shrimps, Anaspides Thomson, 1894 (Crustacea, Syncarida, Anaspididae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ahyong, S. T., and Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A. (2017). Anaspidesidae, a new family for syncarid crustaceans formerly placed in Anaspididae Thomson, 1893. Records of the Australian Museum 69, 257–258.
Anaspidesidae, a new family for syncarid crustaceans formerly placed in Anaspididae Thomson, 1893.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Benson, D. A., Karsch-Mizrachi, I., Lipman, D. J., Ostell, J., and Wheeler, D. L. (2003). GenBank. Nucleic Acids Research 31, 23–27.
GenBank.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 12519940PubMed |

Colhoun, E. A. (1985). Glaciations of the west coast range, Tasmania. Quaternary Research 24, 39–59.
Glaciations of the west coast range, Tasmania.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Colhoun, E. A., Kiernan, K., Barrows, T. T., and Goede, A. (2010). Advances in Quaternary studies in Tasmania. In ‘Australian Landscapes’. (Eds P. Bishop, and B. Pillans.) pp. 165–183. (Geological Society: London.)

Davies, J. L. (1958). The cryoplanation of Mount Wellington. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 92, 151–154.

Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R., and Vrijenhoek, R. (1994). DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3, 294–299.
| 7881515PubMed |

Goede, A (1967). Tasmanian cave fauna: character and distribution. Helictite 5, 71–86.

Jarman, S. N., and Elliott, N. G. (2000). DNA evidence for morphological and cryptic Cenozoic speciations in the Anaspididae, ‘living fossils’ from the Triassic. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 13, 624–633.
DNA evidence for morphological and cryptic Cenozoic speciations in the Anaspididae, ‘living fossils’ from the Triassic.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kiernan, K. (1990). The extent of late Cenozoic glaciation in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia. Arctic and Alpine Research 22, 341–354.
The extent of late Cenozoic glaciation in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kumar, S., Stecher, G., Li, M., Knyaz, C., and Tamura, K. (2018). MEGA X: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution 35, 1547–1549.
MEGA X: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 29722887PubMed |

Lake, P. S., and Coleman, D. J. (1977). On the subterranean syncarids of Tasmania. Helictite 15, 12–17.

Lambeck, K., and Chappell, J. (2001). Sea level change through the last glacial cycle. Science 292, 679–686.
Sea level change through the last glacial cycle.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 11326090PubMed |

Mackintosh, A. N., Barrows, T. T., Colhoun, E. A., and Fifield, L. K. (2006). Exposure dating and glacial reconstruction at Mt. Field, Tasmania, Australia, identifies MIS 3 and MIS 2 glacial advances and climatic variability. Journal of Quaternary Science 21, 363–376.
Exposure dating and glacial reconstruction at Mt. Field, Tasmania, Australia, identifies MIS 3 and MIS 2 glacial advances and climatic variability.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Manton, S. M. (1930). 36. Notes on the habits and feeding mechanisms of Anaspides and Paranaspides (Crustacea, Syncarida). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 100, 791–800.
36. Notes on the habits and feeding mechanisms of Anaspides and Paranaspides (Crustacea, Syncarida).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

O’Brien, D. P. (1990). The conservation status of the mountain shrimp (Anaspides tasmaniae and Anaspides spinulae): a report on its distribution, ecology and taxonomy, including recommendations for management. Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage, Hobart.

Richter, S., Olesen, J., and Wheeler, W. C. (2007). Phylogeny of Branchiopoda (Crustacea) based on a combined analysis of morphological data and six molecular loci. Cladistics 23, 301–336.
Phylogeny of Branchiopoda (Crustacea) based on a combined analysis of morphological data and six molecular loci.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Richter, S., Schwentner, M., Wirkner, C. S., and Ahyong, S. T. (2018). Phylogeny and species diversity of Tasmanian mountain shrimps and their relatives (Crustacea, Anaspidesidae). Zoologica Scripta 47, 84–105.
Phylogeny and species diversity of Tasmanian mountain shrimps and their relatives (Crustacea, Anaspidesidae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Smith, G. W. (1908). Preliminary account of the habits and structure of the Anaspididae, with remarks on some other fresh-water Crustacea from Tasmania. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 80, 465–473.

Swain, R., and Reid, C. I. (1983). Observations on the life history and ecology of Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson) (Syncarida: Anaspididae). Journal of Crustacean Biology 3, 163–172.
Observations on the life history and ecology of Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson) (Syncarida: Anaspididae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thompson, J. D., Higgins, D. G., and Gibson, T. J. (1994). CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research 22, 4673–4680.
CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 7984417PubMed |

Thomson, G. M. (1893). Notes on Tasmanian Crustacea, with descriptions of new species. Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania , 45–76.

Thomson, G. M. (1894). III. On a freshwater schizopod from Tasmania. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 2nd Series. Zoology 6, 285–303.

Thrush, M. N. (2008). The Pleistocene glaciations of the Cradle Mountain region, Tasmania. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Newcastle, Newcastle.

Williams, W. D. (1965a). Ecological notes on Tasmanian Syncarida (Crustacea: Malacostraca), with a description of a new species of Anaspides. Internationale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 50, 95–126.
Ecological notes on Tasmanian Syncarida (Crustacea: Malacostraca), with a description of a new species of Anaspides.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Williams, W. D. (1965b). Subterranean occurrence of Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson) (Crustacea, Syncarida). International Journal of Speleology 1, 333–337.
Subterranean occurrence of Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson) (Crustacea, Syncarida).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Xiong, B., and Kocher, T. D. (1991). Comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences of seven morphospecies of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae). Genome 34, 306–311.
Comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences of seven morphospecies of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 2055453PubMed |