Aquatic long-distance dispersal and vicariance shape the evolution of an ostracod species complex (Crustacea) in four major Brazilian floodplains

Abstract

Cladogenesis is often driven by the interplay of dispersal and vicariance. The importance of long-distance dispersal in biogeography and speciation is increasingly recognised, but still ill-understood. Here, we study faunal interconnectivity between four large Brazilian floodplains, namely the Amazon, Araguaia, Pantanal (on Paraguay River) and Upper Parana River floodplains, investigating a species complex of the non-marine ostracod genus Strandesia. We use DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial COI and the nuclear Elongation Factor 1 alpha genes to construct molecular phylogenies and minimum spanning networks, to identify genetic species, analyse biogeographic histories and provide preliminary age estimates of this species complex. The Strandesia species complex includes five morphological and eleven genetic species, which doubles the known diversity in this lineage. The evolutionary history of this species complex appears to comprise sequences of dispersal and vicariance events. Faunal and genetic patterns of connectivity between floodplains in some genetic species are mirrored in modern hydrological connections. This could explain why we find evidence for (aquatic) long-distance dispersal between floodplains, thousands of kilometres apart. Our phylogenetic reconstructions seem to mostly indicate recent dispersal and vicariance events, but the evolution of the present Strandesia species complex could span up to 25 Myr, which by far exceeds the age of the floodplains and the rivers in their current forms.