Surveying keratose sponges (Porifera, demospongiae, Dictyoceratida) reveals hidden diversity of host specialist barnacles (Crustacea, Cirripedia, Balanidae).

Sponges represent one of the most species-rich hosts for commensal barnacles yet host utilisation and diversity have not been thoroughly examined. This study investigated the diversity and phylogenetic relationships of sponge-inhabiting barnacles within a single, targeted host group, primarily from Western Australian waters. Specimens of the sponge order Dictyoceratida were surveyed and a total of 64 host morphospecies, representing four families, were identified as barnacle hosts during the study. Utilising molecular (COI, 12S) and morphological methods 42 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) of barnacles, representing Acasta, Archiacasta, Euacasta and Neoacasta were identified. Comparing inter- and intra-MOTU genetic distances showed a barcode gap between 2.5% and 5% for COI, but between 1% and 1.5% in the 12S dataset, thus demonstrating COI as a more reliable barcoding region. These sponge-inhabiting barnacles were demonstrated to show high levels of host specificity with the majority being found in a single sponge species (74%), a single genus (83%) or a single host family (93%). Phylogenetic relationships among the barnacles were reconstructed using mitochondrial (12S, COI) and nuclear (H3, 28S) markers. None of the barnacle genera were recovered as monophyletic. Euacasta was paraphyletic in relation to the remaining Acastinae genera, which were polyphyletic. Six well-supported clades of molecular operational taxonomic units, herein considered to represent species complexes, were recovered, but relationships between them were not well supported. These complexes showed differing patterns of host usage, though most were phylogenetically conserved with sister lineages typically occupying related hosts within the same genus or family of sponge. The results show that host specialists are predominant, and the dynamics of host usage have played a significant role in the evolutionary history of the Acastinae.

An annotated checklist and integrative biodiversity discovery of barnacles (Crustacea, Cirripedia) from the Moluccas, East Indonesia.

To contribute to the taxonomic knowledge of barnacles in this understudied area, the first checklist of barnacles from the Moluccas is presented, including additional information on morphology, distribution, and substrate as well as molecular data. The species of barnacles from the Moluccas have been determined using morphological analysis and DNA sequences. During 19 field trips conducted between January 2016 and September 2017, 1,513 specimens of 24 species of intertidal and one species of deep-sea barnacles were collected from 51 localities from the islands. Morphological and molecular analysis of the collected material detected members of three families of stalked barnacles and four families of acorn barnacles. In addition to sampling in the field, we also surveyed the literature on barnacles from the Moluccas. In total, our checklist comprises 97 species from the Moluccas including 23 new records, two of them yet to be described species. Results suggest that the Moluccas have a much higher diversity of barnacles than previously known, for example, from the reports of Challenger and Siboga expeditions. For further work, routine application of molecular systematics could aid the detection of cryptic species, while increased sampling of more islands and a taxonomic revision of several groups would likely lead to an even higher number of species than currently known.

Description of a new species of Membranobalanus (Crustacea, Cirripedia) from southern Australia.

A new species of sponge-inhabiting barnacle, Membranobalanus porphyrophilus sp. nov., is described herein. This species can be distinguished from all other congeners by a combination of characters, in particular by the shapes of the tergum and scutum and the armament of the cirri. COI sequence data from the type specimens have been lodged with GenBank and a morphological key to the species of Membranobalanus is provided to aid future research. The host of the new species is the southern Australian endemic demosponge Spheciospongia purpurea. The new species of barnacle is thought to be host species specific.

Two new deep-sea stalked barnacles, Arcoscalpellum epeeum sp. nov. and Gymnoscalpellum indopacificum sp. nov., from the Coral Sea, with descriptions of the penis in Gymnoscalpellum dwarf males.

The present study describes a new species of Arcoscalpellum Hoek, 1907, and a new species of Gymnoscalpellum Newman & Ross, 1971, collected by deep-sea expeditions led by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) in the Coral Sea off New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Arcoscalpellum epeeum sp. nov. differs from all described species of Arcoscalpellum by the presence of a long, sharp, sword-shaped carina, which extends beyond the apices of the terga by 1/3 to 1/4 of their length. The species is dioecious, with large females and dwarf males that are sac-like, lack shell plates and are housed in paired receptacles at the inner edges of the scutal plates. Arcoscalpellum epeeum sp. nov. was collected in the waters of New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Gymnoscalpellum indopacificum sp. nov. differs from the six currently described species of Gymnoscalpellum by having a very small inframedian latus and a branched upper latus. The species is dioecious, with large females and dwarf males, the latter composed of 4 shell plates and housed in paired receptacles at the inner edges of the scutal plates. The penis of the dwarf males of G. indopacificum sp. nov. is about 0.8 of the total length of the male and has five side branches extending out along its length. Gymnoscalpellum indopacificum sp. nov. is distributed in the waters of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and represents the first record of this genus in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australian barnacles (Cirripedia: Thoracica), distributions and biogeographical affinities.

Currently, 279 barnacle species are recognized in Australia waters. The barnacle fauna of tropical Australia exhibits high species diversity (221), with a high incidence of tropical species (87 Indo-west Pacific [IWP], 16 West Pacific and 65 Indo-Malayan), a low species endemicity (8), and 44 cosmopolitan and 1 Australasian species. Conversely, that of temperate Australia shows lower species diversity (129), with a lower incidence of tropical species (26 IWP, 10 West Pacific and 25 Indo-Malayan), higher species endemicity (23), 37 cosmopolitan, 6 Australasian species, and 3 Australasian/Antarctic species. Distributions corroborate the general patterns demonstrated by the shallow-water biota of northern tropical and southern temperate Australian biogeographic provinces. Tropical and temperate provinces grade into each other in a broad overlap zone along both the western and eastern Australian coasts. This overlap zone is essentially a transitional region, with the gradual replacement of a tropical barnacle fauna in the north by a predominantly temperate barnacle fauna in the south. Both western and eastern Australian coasts are bounded by major poleward-flowing warm currents that have considerable influence on the marine flora and fauna, distributing tropical species of many taxa much farther south than could be predicted by latitude. Currently, 16 barnacle species introduced into Australian waters are identified, although this number may increase in the future due to new port developments and increased shipping arrivals.