Deciphering Arctic sponge diversity: genetic and morphological evidence reveals cryptic lineages in <i>Suberites</i>
Journal: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Year: 2025

ABSTRACT Suberites luetkenii Schmidt, 1870 is a polymorphic Arctic species with several distinct morphotypes, suggesting that it might represent a species complex. The aim of the present work was to verify, using an integrative approach, whether these morphs are conspecific or represent cryptic species. Using COI mitochondrial and 28S nuclear loci, two phylogenies of the family Suberitidae were constructed that were congruent with each other. We retrieved two highly supported sister clades: the