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Disjunct distribution of the Mediterranean freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile—natural expansion or human introduction?

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Abstract

Human mediated biological invasions are seen as an increasing danger for biodiversity. On the other hand, range expansions are natural processes. It is often practically not possible to tell these processes apart, like in the case of the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile. This species has a disjunct distribution on the Balkan Peninsula, Italy, Sicily and Malta. An innovative analysis framework involving phylogeographic model selection and temporal coalescent analyses on a mitochondrial dataset (COI and NADH1) could clarify that the origin of the species was on the Balkans and the colonisation of Italy proceeded from the northern Balkans via southern Italy in the Otranto Strait region. The population expansion associated with this invasion was estimated to have taken place 15,000 years before present (95% c.f. 10,000–24,000 years BP). An anthropogenic introduction is therefore implausible and a natural expansion likely. We argue that the species should thus be included in the national conservation management in Italy.

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Abbreviations

AIC:

Akaike Information Criterion

AMOVA:

Analysis of Molecular Variance

B.C.:

Before Christ

BP:

Before Present

COI:

Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I

IUCN:

International Union for Conservation of Nature

NADH1:

Nicotine Amid dehydrogenase subunit 1

LGM:

Last Glacial Maximum

MCMC:

Monte Carlo Markov Chain

GTR + I + Γ:

General Time Reversible + Proportion Invariant + Gamma

PI:

Parsimony Informative

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to Silvia Barbaresi and Lapo Ragionieri for their help in the field and in the lab. We also thank Gianna Innocenti, Andrea De Paoli, Alessio Bruni, Lorenzo Gori and Annamaria Nocita. Martin G.J. Huber, Silke Reuschel, Petra Zillner, Reiner Rubner and Hermanfrid Schubart are acknowledged for their assistance in the field, Stefanie Sahner, Susanne Siebeneicher and Melanie Grudinski for their help in the lab. Dirk Brandis and Klaus-Gerhard Heller provided some specimens from the Balkans. We sincerely like to thank Daniele Macale and the National Park staffs of Cilento e Vallo di Diano, Pollino, and Aspromonte for sampling permits. Peter C. Dworschak from the Natural History Museum in Vienna and Michael Türkay from the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt/Main made their museum collections available. Marco Vannini supported this research with Fondi Ateneo and a VIGONI project (University of Florence). Christoph Schubart and Ruth Jesse were supported by the DAAD-Vigoni exchange program D/04/47157. Further financial support was provided by the Hermann Willkomm-Foundation (Frankfurt/Main). We are grateful to two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on our manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Siesmayerstr. 70 (Building A), Frankfurt, 60054, Germany

    Ruth Jesse, Markus Pfenninger & Bruno Streit

  2. Biology 1, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Ruth Jesse & Christoph D. Schubart

  3. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany

    Markus Pfenninger

  4. Dpto. di Biologia Animale e Genetica, “Leo Pardi”, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Sara Fratini

  5. Dpto. di Biologia, University “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy

    Massimiliano Scalici

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  1. Ruth Jesse
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  2. Markus Pfenninger
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  4. Massimiliano Scalici
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Correspondence to Ruth Jesse.

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Jesse, R., Pfenninger, M., Fratini, S. et al. Disjunct distribution of the Mediterranean freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile—natural expansion or human introduction?. Biol Invasions 11, 2209–2221 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9377-0

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