scholarly journals Distribution and population genetics of the threatened freshwater crayfish genus Tenuibranchiurus (Decapoda:Parastacidae)

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Dawkins ◽  
James M. Furse ◽  
Clyde H. Wild ◽  
Jane M. Hughes

Very high rates of extinction are recorded in freshwater ecosystems, with coastally distributed species threatened by urban development, pollution and climate change. One example, the world’s second smallest freshwater crayfish (genus Tenuibranchiurus), inhabits coastal swamps in central-eastern Australia. Although only one species is described (Tenuibranchiurus glypticus), it was expected that populations isolated through habitat fragmentation would be highly divergent. The aims of this study were to determine if populations of Tenuibranchiurus are genetically distinct, and if ancient divergence, as indicated in other species in the region, was evident. Tenuibranchiurus were collected at seven sites, extending the known geographical distribution ∼260 km south to Wooli, New South Wales. Analysis of two mitochondrial DNA gene regions indicated two highly divergent clades, with numerous additional subclades. Both clades and subclades were strongly congruent with geographical location, and were estimated to have diverged from each other during the Miocene or Pliocene era. Little sharing of haplotypes between subpopulations was evident, indicating negligible gene flow, and genetic differentiation between subclades possibly indicates distinct species. The coastal distribution of Tenuibranchiurus, severe habitat fragmentation and clear differences between subclades suggest that they should be recognised as evolutionarily significant units, and be treated as such if conservation and management initiatives are warranted.

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Lindenmayer ◽  
J. Dubach ◽  
K. L. Viggers

The morphological and genetic characteristics of the mountain brushtail possum (Trichosurus caninus) are described for animals from a range of locations throughout its known geographic distribution in eastern Australia. Although there is considerable variation among populations, unequivocal morphological and genetic differences exist between northern and southern populations of the species. Specimens from southern populations (from Victoria) have a significantly (P < 0.001) larger ear conch, a significantly (P < 0.001) longer pes, and a significantly (P < 0.001) shorter tail than do specimens from northern populations (from New South Wales and Queensland). Animals can be clearly distinguished using a simple index based on these three morphological measures, which are gathered from live animals. North–south dimorphism is strongly supported by patterns in genetic data that show genetic distances of 2.7–3.0% between the southern and northern populations. The combined outcomes of morphological and genetic analyses suggest the existence of two distinct species. We recommend that the northern form, distributed from central New South Wales north to central Queensland, retain the name Trichosurus caninus; the southern form from Victoria is described here as Trichosurus cunninghami, sp. nov. The common names of these new species should be the 'short-eared possum' and the 'mountain brushtail possum', respectively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023-1030
Author(s):  
Phil R. Bell ◽  
Russell D. C. Bicknell ◽  
Elizabeth T. Smith

AbstractFossil crayfish are typically rare, worldwide. In Australia, the strictly Southern Hemisphere clade Parastacidae, while ubiquitous in modern freshwater systems, is known only from sparse fossil occurrences from the Aptian–Albian of Victoria. We expand this record to the Cenomanian of northern New South Wales, where opalized bio-gastroliths (temporary calcium storage bodies found in the foregut of pre-moult crayfish) form a significant proportion of the fauna of the Griman Creek Formation. Crayfish bio-gastroliths are exceedingly rare in the fossil record but here form a remarkable supplementary record for crayfish, whose body and trace fossils are otherwise unknown from the Griman Creek Formation. The new specimens indicate that parastacid crayfish were widespread in eastern Australia by middle Cretaceous time, occupying a variety of freshwater ecosystems from the Australian–Antarctic rift valley in the south, to the near-coastal floodplains surrounding the epeiric Eromanga Sea further to the north.


2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Austin ◽  
T. T. T. Nguyen ◽  
M. M. Meewan ◽  
D. R. Jerry

This study uses nucleotide sequences from the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene to investigate the taxonomy and phylogeny of freshwater crayfish belonging to the 'Cherax destructor' complex. The sequencing of an approximately 440-bp fragment of this gene region from freshwater crayfish sampled from 14 locations identified significant haplotype diversity. Phylogenetic analysis found three distinct clades that correspond to the species C. rotundus, C. setosus and C. destructor. C. rotundus is largely confined to Victoria, and C. setosus is restricted to coastal areas north of Newcastle in New South Wales. C. destructor is widely distributed in eastern Australia and shows significant phylogeographic structure, with three well supported clades. None of these clades, however, correspond to species previously recognised as C. esculus, C. davisi or C. albidus. The failure to genetically distinguish these morphologically defined species is consistent with reproductive information and morphological plasticity relating to habitat similar to that documented for other Cherax species.


1994 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Close ◽  
M. D. B. Eldridge ◽  
J. N. Bell ◽  
J. Reside

Within the Australian macropod genus Petrogale (rock wallabies) nine chromosomally distinct species occur along the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia (Sharman et al. 1990; Eldridge et al. 1991a; Eldridge and Close 1992). However, Close et al. (1988) found Petrogale from the Grampians, Victoria and from Jenolan Caves, New South Wales, to be remarkably similar despite their 800 km separation (Fig. 1). Standard and C-banded karyotypes of both populations were typical of Petrogale penicillata and were identical except that one Grampians animal was heterozygous for absence of a C-band on chromosome 2. Apart from their smaller physical size, the only difference was that the Grampians animals were homozygous for a unique Pgm allele.


1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Pickett ◽  
C. H. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Kelley ◽  
D. Roman

Thirty-nine species of scleractinian corals have been recovered from under a high dune on the western (mainland) side of North Stradbroke Island, eastern Australia. The corals are associated with thin intertidal sediments and their good condition implies burial in situ and preservation in a saturated zone. Most likely this occurred as the coast prograded and a large dune advanced into the littoral zone, burying intertidal sediments and coral. The species assemblage indicates a sheltered environment but one open to the ocean without wide fluctuations in salinity. Three species yielded a mean 230Th/234U age of 105,000 yr B.P. which is significantly younger than the nearest Pleistocene corals at Evans Head, New South Wales. The corals provide evidence of a sea stand near present sea level during isotope Stage 5c, which is considerably higher than previously suggested for this period. Their good condition implies that the overlying parabolic dune is of comparable age and formed during that high stand of sea level. Also, the isotope age provides a maximum period for the development of giant podzols in the podzol chronosequences on coastal dunes in southern Queensland.


1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
LW Braithwaite ◽  
M Maher ◽  
SV Briggs ◽  
BS Parker

Populations of waterfowl of three game species, the Pacific black duck Anus superciliosa, grey teal A. gibberifrons, and maned duck Chenonetta jubata, were assessed by aerial survey in October 1983 within a survey region of 2 697 000 km2 of eastern Australia. The numbers of each species were assessed on all surface waters of over 1 ha, and on a sample of smaller surface waters within 10 survey bands each 30 km wide and spaced at intervals of 2� latitude from 20�30' to 38�30'S. The area within the survey bands was 324 120 km2, which gave a sampling intensity of 12.0% of the land surface area. The area of features shown as wetlands or water impoundments within the survey bands on 1 : 2 500 000 topographic maps was 19 200 km2 or 11.2% of the total area of these features in the survey region. The area of surface waters surveyed was assessed at 465 300 ha. Assessments of populations of each species were tallied for wetlands by grid cells of 6 min of 1� longitude along the survey bands (258-309 km2 depending on latitude). Distributions were then mapped, with log*10 indices of populations in each cell. Distributions of the black duck and grey teal showed a pattern of intense aggregation in limited numbers of cells, that of the maned duck was more evenly distributed. The major concentrations of the Pacific black duck were recorded in northern New South Wales and the south-eastern, western, central eastern and central coastal regions of Queensland; those of the grey teal were in south-western, western and northern New South Wales and central-eastern Queensland; the maned duck was broadly distributed over inland New South Wales with the exception of the far west, inland southern Queensland, and central northern Victoria.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. O'Donnell ◽  
Jeremy J. Bruhl ◽  
Ian R.H. Telford ◽  
Trevor C. Wilson ◽  
Heidi C. Zimmer ◽  
...  

Research into the systematics of Prostanthera has recently revealed a close evolutionary relationship among P. phylicifolia s. str., the critically endangered P. gilesii, and a population of uncertain identity from the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Previous analyses were unable to establish whether genetic boundaries separated these taxa. This study aimed to assess the species boundaries among these three taxa using a combination of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) sampled at the population-scale and multivariate analysis of morphological characters. Non-parametric and parametric statistics, neighbour-network analysis, phylogenetic analysis, and ancestry coefficient estimates all provided support for discrete genetic differences between the three taxa. Morphological phenetic analysis identified a suite of characters that distinguished each of these taxa. This corroboration of evidence supports the presence of three independently evolving lineages. Prostanthera gilesii and P. phylicifolia s. str. are distinct species independent from the third taxon which is described here as P. volucris R.P.O'Donnell. A detailed description, diagnostic line drawings and photographs are provided. We evaluate P. volucris as satisfying criteria to be considered Critically Endangered.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Joanna Sumner ◽  
Margaret L. Haines ◽  
Peter Lawrence ◽  
Jenny Lawrence ◽  
Nick Clemann

The alpine she-oak skink Cyclodomorphus praealtus is a threatened alpine endemic lizard from the mainland of Australia. The species is previously known from disjunct populations in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and three isolated localities in the Victorian Alps. The New South Wales and Victorian populations represent separate evolutionarily significant units. In 2011, a fourth Victorian population was discovered. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis and determined that the newly discovered population is discrete and may have been separated from other populations since the end of the last glacial maxima. This population requires separate management.


2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Sutherland ◽  
I. T. Graham ◽  
R. E. Pogson ◽  
D. Schwarz ◽  
G. B. Webb ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Raoult ◽  
V. Peddemors ◽  
J. E. Williamson

Two species of angel shark (Squatina australis, S. albipunctata) and two species of sawshark (Pristiophorus nudipinnis, P. cirratus) are frequently caught in south-eastern Australia. Little is known of the biology of these elasmobranchs, despite being caught as secondary target species in large numbers. The present study collected morphometric and reproductive data from sharks caught in shark-control nets, commercial fishing trawlers and research trawlers in south-eastern Australia. All four species had female-biased sexual size dimorphism, but growth curves between sexes did not differ. Male S. australis individuals were fully mature at ~800-mm total length, male P. nudipinnis at ~900mm, and male P. cirratus at ~800mm. Anterior pectoral margins could be used to determine total length in all species. No morphometric measurement could reliably separate Squatina spp. or Pristiophorus spp., although S. albipunctata over 1000-mm total length had larger eyes than did S. australis.


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