Data from: Global biogeography and evolution of Cuvierina pteropods

Background: Shelled pteropods are planktonic gastropods that are
potentially good indicators of the effects of ocean acidification. They
also have high potential for the study of zooplankton evolution because
they are metazoan plankton with a good fossil record. We investigated
phenotypic and genetic variation in pteropods belonging to the genus
Cuvierina in relation to their biogeographic distribution across the
world’s oceans. We aimed to assess species boundaries and to reconstruct
their evolutionary history. Results: We distinguished six morphotypes
based on geometric morphometric analyses of shells from 926 museum and 113
fresh specimens. These morphotypes have distinct geographic distributions
across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and belong to three major
genetic clades based on COI and 28S DNA sequence data. Using a
fossil-calibrated phylogeny, we estimated that these clades separated in
the Late Oligocene and Early to Middle Miocene. We found evidence for
ecological differentiation among all morphotypes based on ecological niche
modelling with sea surface temperature, salinity and phytoplankton biomass
as primary determinants. Across all analyses, we found highly congruent
patterns of differentiation suggesting species level divergences between
morphotypes. However, we also found distinct morphotypes (e.g. in the
Atlantic Ocean) that were ecologically, but not genetically
differentiated. Conclusions: Given the distinct ecological and phenotypic
specializations found among both described and undescribed Cuvierina taxa,
they may not respond equally to future ocean changes and may not be
equally sensitive to ocean acidification. Our findings support the view
that ecological differentiation may be an important driving force in the
speciation of zooplankton.