Resolving the taxonomic ambiguity of Sepia ramani using integrative taxonomy

ABSTRACT

Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831 is a commercially important cuttlefish species in India and other countries. Researchers have found that Sepia pharaonis populations in different regions show morphological and genetic differences, and some have suggested that Sepia pharaonis should be considered a species complex. Sepia ramani Neethiselvan, 2001 was described from the southeast coast of India, but subsequent phylogenetic analyses of molecular data suggest that S. ramani is part of the S. pharaonis species complex. In this study, we conducted detailed morphological and molecular examination of specimens of S. pharaonis and S. ramani from the Tuticorin coast, and suggest that Sepia ramani is a valid species within the Sepia pharaonis species complex.

KEYWORDS:

• Sepia pharaonis
• molecular markers
• phylogeny
• species complex

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Director, ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow for providing facilities to carry out this study at PMFGR Centre, Kochi. We would like to thank Professor Frank E. Anderson and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments. The quality of this manuscript was greatly improved by the comments and suggestions of the reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was carried out with financial support from Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST-Inspire fellowship, IF180270) to Ms. Sneha Vargheese.