TY  - JOUR
AB  - <i>Amblyosyllis</i> is a worldwide distributed group of annelids mainly found in coastal environments. It is well known among the polychaete specialists mostly because of its notable beauty, showing bright colourful patterns and outstanding long and coiled appendices. <i>Amblyosyllis</i> is a monophyletic genus easy to identify due to its distinct diagnostic features; however, the species and their boundaries are, in most cases, not well defined. Herein, we provide an extensive sample of <i>Amblyosyllis</i> material (115 specimens) from several world geographic areas. We have studied the morphological features of each specimen and photographed them alive. Two mitochondrial DNA markers (COI and 16S) and one nuclear gene fragment (28S, D1 region) were sequenced. We performed phylogenetic analyses based on each DNA partition, as well as the combined data sets, obtaining congruent results. Species delimitation methods such as distance analyses, statistical parsimony networks and multi-rate Poisson tree processes were also applied. The combined results obtained from different methodologies and data sets are used to differentiate between, at least, 19 lineages compatible with the separately evolving meta-populations species concept. Four of these lineages are identified as nominal species, including the type species of <i>Amblyosyllis</i>, <i>A. rhombeata</i>. For three other lineages previously synonymized names are recovered, and seven lineages are described as new species. All of these species are described and supported by appropriate iconography. We recognize several morphological characters useful to identify species of <i>Amblyosyllis</i>, which in some cases should also be combined with molecular methods for species delineation. The genetic divergence in the genus is high, contrary to the morphological homogeneity observed. Two species show a wide geographical distribution, while the rest have a more restricted distribution. There are several examples of species with overlapping distribution patterns.
A1  - Aguado, María Teresa
A1  - Capa, María
A1  - Lago-Barcia, Domingo
A1  - Gil, João
A1  - Pleijel, Fredrik
A1  - Nygren, Arne
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0214211
JO  - PLoS ONE
N1  - World Polychaeta Database (WPolyDb). Publication in Open Access
IS  - 4
C1  - 14(4): e0214211
TI  - Species delimitation in <i>Amblyosyllis</i> (Annelida, Syllidae)
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214211
VL  - 14
PY  - 2019
Y2  - 2026-08-18
ER  -