Molecular identification and phylogenetic relationship of Erugosquilla massavensis (Kossmann, 1880) from the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt

Abstract

The Erythraean species of mantis shrimp, Erugosquilla massavensis, has been reported as the first Lessepsian migrant stomatopod to the Mediterranean Sea in 1933, off Alexandria, Egypt via the Suez Canal. Currently, it extended to the middle and western Mediterranean competing with the native spot-tail mantis shrimp Squilla mantis (Linnaeus, 1758). The continuous increase of invasive species to the Mediterranean claimed the necessity to update and revise the identification of those early migrants. The present study aimed to confirm the morphological identification of E. massavensis from the coast of the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea using the DNA barcoding gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and conducting a phylogenetic analysis. Genomic DNA of samples collected from the Mediterranean Sea at Port Said in 2016 was extracted and COI was amplified and sequenced. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that E. massavensis (MH447072 and MH447073) constitutes a single monophyletic clade and appeared more linked with E. woodmasoni than the Japanese mantis shrimp < em> Oratosquilla oratoria (divergence value < 3%). The phylogenetic relationship between E. massavensis, E. woodmasoni, and O. oratoria was confirmed by the Neighbor-Joining tree. The present study confirmed the morphological identification and document, for the first time in GenBank/EMBL/ DDBJ genetic databases, the genetic status of E. massavensis from the Mediterranean of Egypt using COI.