2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Genetic diversity and population systematics of hydrophiine sea snakes from the Ryukyus Archipelago, Japan
| Project/Area Number |
21570098
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Biodiversity/Systematics
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| Research Institution | University of Hyogo |
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Principal Investigator |
OTA Hidetoshi 兵庫県立大学, 自然・環境科学研究所, 教授 (10201972)
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| Research Collaborator |
TODA Mamoru 琉球大学, 熱帯生物圏研究センター, 准教授 (40378534)
YAMADASHIMA Takafumi 鹿児島県立博物館, 学芸主事
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| Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2011
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| Keywords | 遺伝的多様性 / 個体群分類 |
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| Research Abstract |
To revise the long-confusing taxonomy of hydrophiine(i. e., viviparous) sea snakes from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, and adjacent regions, morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted using newly collected specimens, as well as specimens deposited in museums and other comparable institutions. As a result, distribution of Emydocephalus ijimae proved to be geographically strictly confined to the Ryukyu-Taiwan region. There was a prominent inconsistency in the species' delimitations of Hydrophis melanocephalus and H. cyanocinctus against each other between morphological and molecular approaches. Therefore, morphological re-definitions of the two species were strongly needed. Sea snake specimens referred to as voucher in the previous records of Lapemis curtus from the Ryukyus were not detected, and the other specimen from this region, identified as L. curtus and deposited in a museum, proved to represent a different species of Hydrophis in reality. These findings strongly suggest that actually L. curtus does not occur in the Japanese territory.
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