RT Journal Article
T1 Macroecological and biogeographic patterns of Kinorhyncha in the Iberian Peninsula
A1 Guimarães Feitoza, Luciane A.
A1 Guilherme, Pablo Damian Borges
A1 Sánchez Santos, Nuria
A1 Herranz, María
A1 Cepeda Gómez, Diego
A1 González Casarrubios, Alberto
A1 Neves, Ricardo Cardoso
A1 Pardos Martínez, Fernando
A1 Di Domenico, Maikon
AB Aim: Biogeography and macroecology aim to understand the processes that determine patterns in nature. In the marine environment, most of what we know has been documented for fish and macrobenthic organisms. As a result, this knowledge is negatively biased towards smaller benthic organisms, including meiofauna. In this study, we analysed the occurrence of species from the phylum Kinorhyncha, a meiobenthic group with presumably low dispersal potential. Location: Around the Iberian Peninsula. Our goal was to explore the biogeographic and macroecological patterns across the Lusitanian and Mediterranean Sea biogeographic provinces. Time Period: 1990–2021. Major Taxa Studied: Kinorhyncha Reinhard 1885. Methods: Species occurrence data were examined in relation to marine biogeographical classifications, considering multiple spatial scales across the Iberian Peninsula and key environmental variables. We applied generalised linear models (GLMs), generalised additive models (GAMs), and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) to evaluate the influence of province, ecoregion, area, sediment type, depth, latitude, and longitude on Kinorhyncha species richness and composition. Results: Species richness was primarily influenced by depth and biogeographic province, while species composition was better explained by area (geographic location) and sediment type. These results indicate that geographic location is a significant factor influencing the composition and distribution of Kinorhyncha. Despite their low dispersal capacity and limited mobility, we found that both provinces shared species. The Mediterranean Sea contained more exclusive species, despite being less thoroughly sampled. Main Conclusions: We found a biogeographic affinity between Atlantic and Mediterranean kinorhynchs, suggesting their coexistence across both marine provinces. However, species associations were weak at this broader spatial scale, underscoring the need to investigate finer-scale patterns, such as areas within specific regions, to more accurately characterise meiofaunal distribution. While this study focused exclusively on Kinorhyncha, we anticipate that similar spatial patterns may be present in other meiofaunal taxa lacking planktonic larvae, given their inherently limited dispersal capabilities.
PB Wiley
SN 0305-0270
YR 2025
FD 2025-08
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/132454
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/132454
LA eng
NO Guimarães Feitoza LA, Guilherme PDB, Sánchez N, Herranz M, Cepeda D, González‐Casarrubios A, Neves RC, Pardos F, Di Domenico M. Macroecological and Biogeographic Patterns of Kinorhyncha in the Iberian Peninsula. Journal of Biogeography 2025;52:e70033. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70033.
NO Funding: L.A.G.F. was funded through a scholarship granted by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). M.D.D. is a research fellow on CNPq (proc. n. 313588/2023-6). A.G.C. was supported by a predoctoral contract from the Community of Madrid (PIPF-2023). This contribution received financial support from the following Research Projects: PGC2018-095851-B-C62, CGL2013-42908-P, CGL2009-08928, CGL2005-04310, BOS2000-0568 of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN), Government of Spain; and PR27/21-001, Grants for the implementation of R&D projects for young PhD, action financed by the Community of Madrid in the framework of the multi-annual agreement with the Complutense University of Madrid in the line Stimulation of research by young PhD.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Brazil)
NO Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brazil)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 feb 2026