Climatic niche evolution and speciation modes in the transisthmian Alpheus shrimps (Caridea: Alpheidae)

Aim

We studied the niche evolution and diversification modes in transisthmian Alpheus shrimps by examining the interplay between environmental niche divergence and conservatism in allopatric sister species. In a broader perspective, the current study analysed the evolution of climatic niche and the role of the environment in species diversification of Alpheus transisthmian shrimp.

Location

Atlantic and Eastern-Pacific oceans.

Taxon

Alpheus shrimps (Caridea: Alpheidae).

Methods

We assembled georeferenced occurrences for 33 species of Alpheus (with 24 sister species) from a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny. We modelled their ecological niches and assessed niche overlap through pairwise comparisons. Additionally, we performed phylogenetic reconstructions of the ancestral environmental niche, for each niche axis.

Results

Our results demonstrate that thermal tolerances, food availability and hydrodynamic forces were relevant environmental axes in evolutionary processes in transisthmian species of Alpheus. Among the 528 paired comparisons, we found that most niches were divergent, including in 12 clades formed by pairs of sister species (in only two of these clades were the niches fully equivalent). Phylogenetic reconstructions of ancestral niches showed an initial niche conservatism in all axes, with divergences intensifying in the last 12 million years.

Main Conclusions

We found evidence that confirms the relevance of the environmental changes that occurred in the West Atlantic and East Pacific for niche evolution in transisthmian Alpheus species, as well as for the emergence of some lineages. Our findings provide evidence for different modes of Alpheus species speciation in a period consistent with the closure of the Isthmus of Panama.