Global genomics of the man-o’-war (Physalia) reveals biodiversity at the ocean surface
Authors: Church Samuel H. , Abedon River B. , Ahuja Namrata , Anthony Colin J. , Ramirez Diego A. , Rojas Lourdes M. , Albinsson Maria E. , Álvarez Trasobares Itziar , Bergemann Reza E. , Bogdanovic Ozren , Burdick David R. , Cunha Tauana J. , Damian-Serrano Alejandro , D’Elía Guillermo , Dion Kirstin B. , Doyle Thomas K. , Gonçalves João M. , Gonzalez Rajal Alvaro , Haddock Steven H. D. , Helm Rebecca R. , Gouvello Diane Le , Lewis Zachary R. , Magalhães Bruno I. M. M. , Mańko Maciej K. , de Mendoza Alex , Moura Carlos J. , Nel Ronel , Perelman Jessica N. , Prieto Laura , Munro Catriona , Oguchi Kohei , Pitt Kylie A. , Schaeffer Amandine , Schmidt Andrea L. , Sellanes Javier , Wilson Nerida G. , Yamamoto Gaku , Lazo-Wasem Eric A. , Simon Chris , Decker Mary Beth , Coughlan Jenn M. , Dunn Casey W. 
Published: July 2024

The open ocean is a vast, highly connected environment, and the organisms found there have been hypothesized to represent massive, well-mixed populations. Of these, the Portuguese man-o’-war (Physalia) is uniquely suited to dispersal, sailing the ocean surface with a muscular crest. We tested the hypothesis of a single, panmicticPhysaliapopulation by sequencing 133 genomes, and found five distinct lineages, with multiple lines of evidence showing strong reproductive isolation despite range overlap. We then scored thousands of citizen-science photos and identified four recognizable morphologies linked to these lineages. Within lineages, we detected regionally endemic subpopulations, connected by winds and currents, and identified individual long-distance dispersal events. We find that, even in these sailing species, genetic variation is highly partitioned geographically across the open ocean.

The open ocean is a vast and highly connected environment. The organisms that live there have a significant capacity for dispersal and few geographic boundaries to separate populations. Of these, the Portuguese man-o’-war or bluebottle (genusPhysalia) is uniquely suited to long-distance travel, using its gas-filled float and muscular crest to catch the wind and sail the sea surface.Physaliaare distributed across the globe, and like many pelagic organisms, have been hypothesized to represent a massive, well-mixed population that extends across ocean basins. We tested this hypothesis by sequencing whole genomes of 133 samples collected from waters of over a dozen countries around the globe. Our results revealed five distinct lineages, with multiple lines of evidence indicating strong reproductive isolation, despite regions of range overlap. We combined these data with an independent dataset of thousands of images ofPhysaliauploaded to the citizen-science website inaturalist.org, which we scored for morphological characters including sail size, tentacle arrangement, and color. From these images, we identified four recognizable morphologies, described their geographical distribution, and linked them to four of the lineages identified with genomic data. We conclude there are at least four species, three of which correspond to species proposed by scientists in the 18th and 19th centuries:P. physalis,P utriculus, andP. megalista, along with one as yet unnamed speciesPhysaliasp. from the Tasman Sea. Within each species, we observe significant population structure, with evidence of persistent subpopulations at a regional scale, as well as evidence for individual long-distance dispersal events. Our findings indicate that, instead of one well-mixed, cosmopolitan species, there are in fact multiplePhysaliaspecies with distinct but overlapping ranges, each made up of regionally endemic subpopulations that are connected by major ocean currents and wind patterns.