南海长棘海星物种有效性探讨

南海长棘海星暴发已严重威胁到该海域珊瑚礁生态系统健康，乃至整个南海生物多样性。针对南海长棘海星拉丁学名混用、中文名不统一的现状，我们采集了中沙群岛济猛暗沙海域长棘海星样品，结合长棘海星此前物种分类和分布的研究结果，对南海长棘海星物种有效性进行探讨。结果表明：所有长棘海星序列明显分为4个类群，各类群间遗传距离范围为0.087 5~0.104 7，达到了种间差异水平。南海长棘海星与长棘海星的太平洋种聚类到一起，实为太阳长棘海星(Acanthaster solaris)，与其余3个种存在明显的种间差异。太阳长棘海星中2个支系间的遗传距离为0.005 3，在COⅠ基因层面属于种内差异。南海长棘海星物种有效性的研究结果为后续开展其遗传特征与适应性机制、种群分布与扩散机制、种群暴发机制等内容的研究提供科学依据。

Discussion on species validity of crown of thorns starfish in the South China Sea

Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) have seriously threatened the health of coral reef ecosystem and even the biodiversity of the whole South China Sea. For the present confusion in use of Latin names and inconsistent Chinese names of CoTS, we collected CoTS samples from the Jimeng Ansha shoal of the Zhongsha Islands, and explored the species validity of CoTS by combining the results of the previous studies on the species classification and distribution. Results show that all the CoTS sequences could be divided into four groups and the genetic distance among various group ranged from 0.087 5 to 0.104 7, reaching the level of interspecific difference. While the CoTS from the South China Sea clustered together with the species from the Pacific CoTS and it was found that it is an actually Acanthaster solaris, and there was obvious interspecific genetic differentiation from the other three species. The genetic distance between two clades of A. solaris is 0.005 3, which is confirmed as intraspecific differentiation at the CO I gene level. Results of the study on the species validity of CoTS from the South China Sea provide a scientific basis for the subsequent studies on its genetic characteristics and adaptive mechanism, population distribution and diffusion mechanisms, and population outbreak mechanism.