Unexpected low genetic differentiation between Japan and Bering Sea populations of a deep-sea benthic crustacean lacking a planktonic larval stage (Peracarida: Tanaidacea)

Abstract

Information on the extent, diversity and connectivity of populations is lacking for most deep-sea invertebrates. Species of the order Tanaidacea (Crustacea), one of the most diverse and abundant macrofaunal groups in the deep sea, are benthic, lack a planktonic larval stage, and thus would be expected to have narrow distributional ranges. However, with molecular evidence from the COI gene, we show here that the deep-sea tanaidacean Carpoapseudes spinigena has a distributional range spanning at least 3700 km, from off northern Japan to the south-eastern Bering Sea. Living individuals found in a sediment core indicated that the species is a sedentary burrower. COI analyses revealed a low level of genetic diversity overall, and low differentiation (p-distance, 0.2-0.8%) between the Japan and Bering Sea populations. One hypothesis to explain the low genetic diversity over a broad region is that the Japan population was founded by individuals transported by ocean currents from the Bering Sea. However, due to limited data, other explanations cannot be ruled out. Our results indicate that continued sampling is of fundamental importance to understanding how genetic and taxonomic diversity originate and are maintained in the deep sea.