Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Speciation in western Atlantic stone crabs (genus Menippe): the role of geological processes and climatic events in the formation and distribution of species

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Electrophoretically detectable variation in 38 proteins and color morphology were used to determine the evolutionary relationships of crabs of the genus Menippe (Xanthidae) in the southeastern USA. Both allele frequencies (=genotype) and color morphology (=phenotype) showed that one species, Menippe mercenaria, is probably a taxonomic supergroup composed of two taxa (semispecies). One taxon (the western Gulf form) is distributed from northwest Florida westward through Texas. The second (the peninsular Florida form) ranges through the Florida peninsula from northwest to east central Florida, and in North Carolina. The taxa appear to have hybridized in two discrete regions: in the Gulf of Mexico (northwest Florida) and in the Atlantic Ocean (east central Florida to South Carolina). The agreement of patterns of geographic variation in genotype and phenotype with the geological record and estimated times of divergence based on genetic distances suggests that the observed patterns are the product of the influence of Late Cenozoic changes in climate and geology. The Atlantic zone of hybridization was formed prior to the closure of the seaway across north Florida connecting the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, and the northwest Florida zone at some time subsequent to the closure. The present distribution, and the location of zones of hybridization, between the two semispecies of M. mercenaria illustrate the importance of the interaction of historical geological and climatic events with ecological boundaries in determining the distribution and interactions of shallow water marine species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ayala, F. J. and J. R. Powell: Allozymes as diagnostic characters of sibling species of Drosophila. Proc. natl Acad. Sci. USA 69, 1094–1096 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayala, F. J., J. R. Powell and M. L. Tracey: Enzyme variability in the Drosophila willistoni group: V. Genetic variation in natural populations of Drosophila equinoxialis. Genet. Res. 20, 19–112 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahr, L. M. and W. P. Lanier: The ecology of intertidal oyster reefs of the south Atlantic coast: a community profile, 105 pp. Washington, D.C. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Off. Biol. Serv., FWS/OBS-81-15 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandy, O. L.: Cycles in Neogene paleoceanography and eustatic changes. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 5, 63–74 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrowclough, G. F.: Genetic and phenotypic differentiation in a wood warbler (genus Dendroica) hybrid zone. Auk 97, 655–668 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bert, T. M.: Geographic variation, population biology, and hybridization in Menippe mercenaria and evolution in the genus Menippe in the southwestern North Atlantic Ocean, 306 pp. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale Univ., New Haven, CT 1985

  • Bert, T. M., J. Dodrill, G. E. Davis and J. Tilmant: Aspects of the population dynamics and biology of the stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, based on trapping. South Florida Research Center Tech. Rept. (In press)

  • Bert, T. M., R. E. Warner and L. D. Kessler: The biology and Florida fishery of the stone crab, Menippe mercenaria (Say), with emphasis on southwest Florida, 82 pp. Fla. Sea Grant Tech. Rept. No. 9 (1978)

  • Briggs, J. C.: Marine zoogeography, 398 pp. New York: McGraw-Hill 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, H. K.: Geological history of the Suwannee River. In: Geology of the Miocene and Pliocene series in the north Florida-south Georgia area, pp 37–45. Miami: Atlantic Coastal Plain Geological Association 1966

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, H. K.: Geological oceanography. In: A Summary of knowledge of eastern Gulf of Mexico, pp IIE1-IIE49. Ed. by J. I. Jones, R. E. Ring, M. O. Rinkel, and R. E. Smith. St. Petersburg, FL: State University System of Florida Institute of Oceanography 1973

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, B. C.: The evolution of morph-ratio clines. Am. Nat. 100, 389–402 (1966)

    Google Scholar 

  • CLIMAP: The surface of the Ice Age earth. Science, Wash. DC 191, 1131–1137 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, T. M., B. J. Szabo, T. A. Ager, J. E. Hazel and J. P. Owens: Quaternary climates and sea levels of the U.S. Atlantic coastal plain. Science, Wash. DC 211, 211–233 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. J., E. E. deMartini and K. McGee: Gene flow among populations of a teleost (painted greenling, Oxylebius pictus) from Puget Sound to southern California. Mar. Biol. 65, 17–23 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobzhansky, T., F. J. Ayala, G. L. Stebbins and J. W. Valentine: Evolution, 572 pp. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co. 1977

    Google Scholar 

  • Earle, S. A.: Phaeophyta of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Phycologia 7, 1–254 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J. A.: Geographic variation, clines, and speciation, 246 pp. Monogr. Pop. Biol. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press 1977

    Google Scholar 

  • Flowerdew, M. W. and D. J. Crisp: Allelic esterase isozymes, their variation with season, position on the shore and stage of development in the cirrepede Balanus balanoides. Mar. Biol. 35, 319–325 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Futuyma, D. J.: Evolutionary biology, 565 pp. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc. 1979

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, J. H. and C. H. Langley: A general model to account for genetic variation in natural populations. Genetics 76, 837–848 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gore, R. H., L. E. Scotto and L. J. Becker: Community composition, stability, and trophic partitioning in decapod crustaceans inhabiting some subtropical sabellariid worm reefs. Studies on decapod crustacea from the Indian River Lagoon region of Florida, IV. Bull. mar. Sci. 28, 221–248 (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden, B. P. and R. Delara: Barrier islands, lagoons, and marshes. J. Sed. Petrol. 49, 1061–1072 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedgecock, D., M. L. Tracey and K. Nelson: Genetics. In: The biology of Crustacea, vol. 2, pp 283–403. Ed. by D. Bliss. New York: Academic Press 1982

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilbish, T. J. and R. K. Koehn: Exclusion of the role of secondary contact in an allele frequency cline in the mussel Mytilus edulis. Evolution 39, 432–443 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt, J. H. and J. R. Hails: Pleistocene shoreline sediments in coastal Georgia; deposition and modification. Science, Wash. DC 155, 1541–1543 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbart, D. K., G. F. Oertel and D. Nummendal: The role of waves and tidal currents in the development of tidal inlet sedimentary structures and sandbody geometry: examples from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. J. Sed. Petrol. 49, 1073–1092 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. S.: Comparative geographic variation in Menidia. Evolution 28, 607–618 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent, B. W.: Patterns of coexistence in Busyconine whelks. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 66, 257–283 (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  • Koehn, R. K., R. Milkman and J. B. Mitton: Population genetics of marine pelecypods. IV. Selection, migration and genetic differentiation in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Evolution 30, 2–32 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Koehn, R. K. and J. B. Mitton: Population genetics of marine pelecypods. I. Evolutionary strategy at an enzyme locus. Am. Nat. 106, 47–56 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Koehn, R. K. and D. I. Rasmussen: Polymorphic and monomorphic serum esterase heterogeneity in catostomid fish populations. Biochem. Genet. 1, 131–144 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Levene, H.: Genetic equilibrium when more than one ecological niche is available. Am. Nat. 87, 331–333 (1953)

    Google Scholar 

  • Levinton, J. S. and T. H. Suchanek: Geographic variation, niche breadth, and genetic differentiation at different geographic scales in the mussels Mytilus californianus and M. edulis. Mar. Biol. 49, 363–375 (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, M. S. and R. J. Larson: Geographic variation in the occurrence of tympanic spines and possible genetic differentiation in the kelp rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens). Copeia 1978, 53–59 (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maruyama, T.: The rate of decrease of heterozygosity in a population occupying a circular or linear habitat. Genetics 67, 437–454 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxson, L. E. R. and R. D. Maxson: Comparative albumin and biochemical evolution in plethodontid salamander. Evolution 33, 1057–1062 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCommas, S. A.: Biochemical genetics of the sea anemone Bunodosoma cavernata and the zoogeography of the Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Biol. 68, 169–173 (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mootz, C. A. and C. E. Epifanio: An energy budget for Menippe mercenaria larvae fed Artemia nauplii. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 146, 44–55 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagylaki, T.: The decay of genetic variability in geographically structured populations. Theoret. pop. Biol. 10, 70–82 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei, M.: Genetic distance between populations. Am. Nat. 106, 283–292 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei, M.: Molecular population genetics and evolution, 525 pp. Amsterdam: North Holland 1975

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, K. and D. Hedgecock: Enzyme polymorphism and adaptive strategy in the decapod crustacea. Am. Nat. 116, 238–280 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, S. J.: Miocene vertebrates and north Florida shorelines. Palaeogeogr., Paleoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 5, 127–134 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, H., K. C. Stuck and D. S. Reissig: Menippe mercenaria: the potential for development of a fishery, 42 pp. Ann. Rept. to Mississippi Sea Grant 1983

  • Pielou, E. C.: Biogeography, 351 pp. New York: Wiley-Interscience 1979

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathbun, M. J.: The cancroid crabs of America of the families Euryalidae, Portunidae, Atelecyclidae, Cancridae, and Xanthidae, 627 pp. U.S. nat. Mus. Bull. 1930

  • Remington, C. L.: Suture zones of hybrid interaction between recently joined biotas. Evol. Biol. 2, 321–428 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, H. G.: The Tertiary history of the Atlantic coast between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimacol. Palaeoecol. 5, 95–104 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, H. G. and S. Judson: The Atlantic coastal plain and the Appalachian highlands in the Quaternary. In: The quaternary of the United States, pp 129–136. Ed. by H. E. Wright, Jr. and D. E. Frey. New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1965

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggs, S. R.: Petrology of the Tertiary phosphorite system of Florida. Econ. Geol. 74, 195–220 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggs, S. R.: Paleoceanographic model of Neogene phosphorite deposition, U.S. Atlantic continental margin. Science, Wash. DC 223, 123–131 (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, J. S.: Measures of genetic similarity and genetic distance. Univ. Texas Publ. 213, 145–153 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ros, R. M., D. Perez Perez and Z. Ayboleya: Policromatismo en el cangrejo moro Menippe mercenaria (Say, 1818). Rev. Invest. Mar. 1, 175–196 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, V. M.: Rates, sample sizes, and the neutrality hypothesis for electrophoresis in evolutionary studies. Nature, Lond. 265, 24–28 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sassaman, C. and R. M. Yoshiyama: Lactate dehydrogenase-A polymorphism of Anoplarchus purpurescens. J. Hered. 70, 329–334 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Savage, T. and M. R. McMahan: Growth of early juvenile stone crabs, Menippe mercenaria (Say, 1818), 32 pp. Fla. Bd Conserv., Mar. Res. Lab. Spec. Sci. Rept. No. 21 (1968)

  • Schopf, T. J. and J. L. Gooch: Gene frequencies in a marine ectoproct: a cline in natural populations related to sea temperature. Evolution 25, 286–289 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schopf, T. J. M. and L. S. Murphy: Protein polymorphism of the hybridizing sea-stars Asterias forbesi and Asterias vulgaris and implications for their evolution. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 145, 589–597 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Scotto, L. E.: Larval development of the Cuban stone crab, Menippe nodifrons (Brachyura, Xanthidae), under laboratory conditions, with notes on the status of the family Menippidae. Fish. Bull. U.S. 77, 359–386 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Selander, R. K., M. H. Smith, S. Y. Yang, W. E. Johnson and J. G. Gentry: Biochemical polymorphisms and systematics in the genus Peromyscus. I. Variation in the old-field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). Univ. Texas Publ. 7103, 40–90 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. R. and R. Prasad: Starch gel electrophoresis of enzymesa compilation of recipes. Biochem. Genet. 4, 297–320 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Slatkin, M.: Gene flow and selection in a cline. Genetics 75, 733–756 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Swofford, D. L. and R. M. Selander: BIOSYSI: a FORTRAN program for the comprehensive analysis of electrophoretic data in population genetics and systematics. J. Hered. 72, 281–283 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tedford, R. H.: Marsupials and the new paleogeography. In: Paleogeographic provinces and provinciality. Soc. Econ. Paleontol. Mineralog. Spec. Publ. No. 21, 109–126 (1974)

  • Templeton, A. R.: Mechanisms of speciation — a population genetic approach. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 12, 23–48 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J. P.: The molecular clock hypothesis: biochemical evolution, genetic differentiation, and systematics. A. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 13, 139–168 (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vawter, A. T., R. Rosenblatt and G. C. Gorman: Genetic divergence among fishes of the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean: support for the molecular clock. Evolution 34, 705–711 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L. and N. A. Voss: An ecological survey of the marine invertebrates of Bimini, Bahamas, with a consideration of their zoogeographical relationships. Bull. mar. Sci. Gulf Carib. 10, 96–116 (1960)

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, S. D. and N. Tessman: Vertebrate evidence of a low sea level in the middle Pliocene. Science, Wash. DC 156, 379 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, M. P. and R. W. Yeager: Electrophoretic investigation of subpopulations of the spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier), in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast of Florida. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 54B, 97–102 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. J. D.: Modes of speciation, 453 pp. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co. 1978

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilhelm, O. and M. Ewing: Geology and history of the Gulf of Mexico. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 83, 575–600 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C., R. K. Koehn and J. B. Mitton: Genetic differentiation without isolation in the American eel, Anguilla rostrata. Evolution 27, 192–204 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, A. C., L. R. Maxson and V. M. Sarich: Two types of molecular evolution. Evidence from studies of interspecific hybridization. Proc. natl Acad. Sci. USA 71, 2843–2847 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winans, G. A.: Geographic variation in the milkfish Chanos chanos. I. Biochemical evidence. Evolution 34, 558–574 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winker, C. D. and J. D. Howard: Plio-Pleistocene paleogeography of the Florida gulf coast interpreted from relict shorelines. Trans. Gulf Coast Ass. Geol. Soc. 23, 409–420 (1977a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winker, D. C. and J. D. Howard: Correlation of tectonically deformed shorelines on the southern Atlantic coastal plain. Geology 5, 123–127 (1977b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S.: Evolution and the genetics of populations, vol. 4, 526 pp. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1978

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. Y., M. Soule and G. C. Gorman: Anolis lizards of the eastern Carribean: a case study in evolution. I. Genetic relationships, phylogeny, and colonization sequence of the roquet group. Syst. Zool. 23, 387–399 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. T. M. Bert

    Present address: Bureau of Marine Research, Florida Department of Natural Resources, 100-8th Avenue S.E., 33701, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Osborn Memorial Laboratory, Department of Biology, Yale University, P.O. Box 6666, 06511, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    T. M. Bert

Authors
  1. T. M. Bert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bert, T.M. Speciation in western Atlantic stone crabs (genus Menippe): the role of geological processes and climatic events in the formation and distribution of species. Mar. Biol. 93, 157–170 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00508253

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00508253

Keywords

Search

Navigation