De. Pollock, SPECIATION IN SPINY-LOBSTERS - CLUES TO CLIMATICALLY-INDUCED CHANGES IN OCEAN CIRCULATION PATTERNS, Bulletin of marine science, 53(3), 1993, pp. 937-944
Allopatric speciation in spiny lobsters is accelerated during periods
when long-lived teleplanic phyllosoma larvae are retained within more
distinctly separated ocean surface circulatory systems. The example is
given of a widely-distributed Indo-Pacific spiny lobster Panulirus ho
marus which occurs in three distinct parts of the Indian Ocean, as thr
ee readily distinguishable varieties or subspecies. A degree of hybrid
ization is evident where subspecies overlap. Inferred surface circulat
ion patterns during Pleistocene glacial periods suggest that more comp
lete separation of larval ''pools'' due to changed circulation systems
caused by altered wind patterns and intensities, together with shoali
ng ridges and rises (associated with lowered sea level) may have promo
ted the emergence of these new subspecies.