Morphology and DNA barcodes reveal the presence of the non-native land planarian Obama marmorata (Platyhelminthes : Geoplanidae) in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domingo Lago-Barcia ◽  
Fernando A. Fernández-Álvarez ◽  
Lisandro Negrete ◽  
Francisco Brusa ◽  
Cristina Damborenea ◽  
...  

We report for the first time the occurrence of Obama marmorata in the Iberian Peninsula as an introduced species from the Neotropical Region. The species is also reported for the first time in Argentina. The identification was made on the basis of morphological evidence. The divergence levels of a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochromec oxidaseI gene from Argentinean and Iberian samples were studied. The morphology of samples from the two regions was the same and matched the original description of the species. A DNA barcoding matrix was constructed using new sequences from O. marmorata and sequences of related species taken from GenBank. Among the Geoplanidae, interspecific divergence ranged between 3.3 and 14.4%, while intraspecific divergence percentages were 0–1.2%, signalling the presence of a DNA barcoding gap. All O. marmorata sequences, irrespective of their geographic origin, form a well supported clade with an intraspecific divergence of 0–0.9 (average = 0.4%). These results indicate the utility of DNA barcoding to discover allochthonous species in this group of organisms.

Zootaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3949 (3) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
THIAGO F. MARTINS ◽  
SÉRGIO L. GIANIZELLA ◽  
PABLO H. NUNES ◽  
DIOGO C. L. O. FARIA ◽  
CARLOS A. R. DO NASCIMENTO ◽  
...  

Since its original description from the Amazonian region, the tick species Amblyomma goeldii Neumann, 1899 has been misidentified with Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 in different countries of the Neotropical region. Because of this, some authors have considered that the only confirmed records of A. goeldii were from French Guyana. Herein, we reviewed all specimens of A. goeldii that have been deposited at two tick collections in Brazil. In addition, we describe the nymphal stage of A. goeldii for the first time. A total of 10 unpublished records of the adult stage of A. goeldii are recorded from the Amazonian region of Brazil, confirming the occurrence of A. goeldii in this country. Except for one record on the snake Boa constrictor Linnaeus, all records of A. goeldii reported in the present study were from anteaters (Pilosa: Myrmecophagidae). Our results, in conjunction with previous literature records, indicate that anteaters and large snakes are important hosts for the adult stage of A. goeldii. The nymph of A. goeldii is morphologically similar to the nymphs of Amblyomma romitii Tonelli-Rondelli, 1939, Amblyomma dissimile Koch, 1844, and A. rotundatum. We present a modification of a previously published taxonomic key of Amblyomma nymphs from Brazil, in order to perform taxonomic identification of the nymph of A. goeldii based on external morphology. The geographical distribution of A. goeldii appears to be restricted to the Amazonian region. There were no previous host records for the immature stages of A. goeldii, thus it is expected that the present nymphal description will facilitate further works on the ecology of this poorly studied tick species. 


2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong-e Hou ◽  
Zhu Li ◽  
Shu-qiang Li

Abstract Using a standard cytochrome c oxidase I sequence, DNA barcoding has been shown to be effective to distinguish known species and to discover cryptic species. Here we assessed the efficiency of DNA barcoding for the amphipod genus Gammarus from China. The maximum intraspecific divergence for widespread species, Gammarus lacustris, was 3.5%, and mean interspecific divergence reached 21. 9%. We presented a conservative benchmark for determining provisional species using maximum intraspecific divergence of Gammarus lacustris. Thirty-one species possessed distinct barcode clusters. Two species were comprised of highly divergent clades with strong neighbor-joining bootstrap values, and likely indicated the presence of cryptic species. Although DNA barcoding is effective, future identification of species of Gammarus should incorporate DNA barcoding and morphological detection.


Genome ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 823-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tenielle Cooke ◽  
Kyle Kulenkampff ◽  
Marise Heyns ◽  
Laura Jane Heathfield

Forensic entomology aids the determination of post mortem interval based on arthropods associated with a deceased body. This relies on the accurate identification of insects that visit the body, particularly first colonisers such as Calliphoridae (Diptera). Traditional species identification though morphological keys can be challenging as immature or closely related specimens can look similar. Some of these challenges have been overcome through “DNA barcoding”, which involves the sequencing of informative regions within a species’ DNA and comparison to a database of reference sequences. However, reference DNA sequences of blow fly species in South Africa is currently limited. In this study, adult blow flies representing four species common to the Western Cape, South Africa (Chrysomya chloropyga, Chrysomya albiceps, Chrysomya marginalis, Lucilia sericata) were examined using morphological keys and DNA barcoding of two regions: COI and ITS2. These DNA sequences were then used as references for the successful identification of seven unknown immature specimens. Intraspecific divergence showed a maximum of 0.36% and 2.25% for COI and ITS2, respectively; interspecific divergence showed a minimum of 6.14% and 64.6% for COI and ITS2, respectively. According to these results, COI and ITS2 have sufficient discriminatory power for species-level identification for the four species studied.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-674
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Girón

Broad-nosed weevils in the subfamily Entiminae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are highly diverse, not only in terms of number of species, but also in their sizes, forms and colours. There are eight tribes, 50 genera and 224 entimine species recorded from Colombia: seven genera and 142 species are considered endemic and only a handful of species, which are recognised as pests of Citrus or potatoes, are broadly known. The large diversity of this subfamily in the country is only superficially known and even though genus level identifications are generally achievable, species identification remains quite challenging, due in part to limited access to broadly-scattered basic information. Summaries of available information and bibliographic resources for each of the tribes represented in Colombia are offered, along with a checklist of the species of Entiminae recorded from the country, obtained from literature and a pictorial key for tribal recognition. New combinations are proposed for eight species of the genus Lanterius Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal. Information on the distribution of entimine species in Colombia is compiled for the first time, including complete references to each original description and available taxonomic revisions. About a third of the species of Entiminae remain as recorded from the country without specific locality information. In addition, genus level distributional maps are presented, generated from data obtained from four Colombian entomological collections. Lastly, some challenges for entimine identification in Colombia, which likely extend throughout the Neotropical region, are briefly discussed. This contribution aims, in part, to facilitate and promote entimine research in northern South America.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4729 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN J. GUERRERO ◽  
E. DAVID CUENCA ◽  
DAVID BARROS ◽  
ANTONIO S. ORTIZ

The rare and diurnal geometrid moth Athroolopha latimargo Rothschild, 1914 bona sp., stat. rev. is re-discovered and redescribed from the furthest point of the south of the Iberian Peninsula, for the first time since its original description as a subspecies of Athroolopha chrysitaria (Hübner, 1813) from North Africa. The range of this taxon is questioned. A mitochondrial COI barcode sequence was generated for the specimens and compared with Iberian and Sicilian Athroolopha species. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 536-541
Author(s):  
Shenmao WU ◽  
Liping YIN ◽  
Zhirui DENG ◽  
Qin CHEN ◽  
Yining FU ◽  
...  

Seeds of the genus Lolium are difficult to identify based on morphology for morphological likeness and some physical deformation such as friction and flattening during storage and transport. DNA barcoding, a newly-established method, has been used to discriminate a variety of agricultural crops with its own advantages. In present study, DNA barcodes for the genus Lolium were investigated for the first time. DNA sequences of psbA-trnH, rbcL, atpF-atpH, and the ITS2 region were evaluated for their ability to differentiate Lolium from the related genus Festuca. As confirmed by inter-intraspecific divergence and Kimura 2 parameter analysis, the greatest divergence existed in ITS2, followed by psbA-trnH. On the contrary, rbcL and atpF-atpH possessed poor genetic variation of 0-0.0115, and was relatively difficult in discrimination of genus Lolium. For ITS2 sequence, no inter-intraspecific distance overlaps were observed and each species has a distinct barcoding gap. ITS2 could effectively discriminate all species based on a neighbor-joining tree. Thus, the ITS2 region is a candidate for DNA barcoding of Lolium.


Botany ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irusappan Sivaraj ◽  
Stalin Nithaniyal ◽  
Varadharajan Bhooma ◽  
Umapathy Senthilkumar ◽  
Madasamy Parani

The genus Melia L., which belongs to the “Mahogany” family Meliaceae, is a source of important phytochemicals with marked medicinal properties. Species identification in Melia is complex due to the existence of overlapping morphological features. Although Melia dubia Cav. is listed as a synonym of Melia azedarach L., it is not clear from the available literature whether they are the same species or different, and the species complexity still remains unresolved. In the present study, 10 accessions of M. dubia and M. azedarach were analysed by DNA barcoding using three chloroplast DNA markers (rbcL, matK, and trnH–psbA), and one nuclear marker (ITS2). Intraspecific divergence was not found in any of the four markers. However, the interspecific divergence between M. azedarach and M. dubia ranged between 0.3% (rbcL) and 4.7% (ITS2) for individual markers, and for the combined dataset, it was 8.5%. Among the four markers, ITS2 was found to be the most suitable marker for differentiating M. azedarach and M. dubia. Parsimony analysis of the DNA barcoding data showed a clear segregation between M. azedarach and M. dubia as distinct monophyletic clades in all the markers, except the rbcL marker. Our results based on Bayesian analysis of the concatenated dataset strongly support the view that M. dubia be considered a distinct species; not a synonym of M. azedarach.


2014 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 256-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. A. Kataeva

Ramalina sekika Asahina is reported for the first time from Russia from Sakhalin. It refers to the number of rare and poorly investigated species of the genus. Until now it was considered to be endemic to northeastern China. The original description and the location in the Far East are given, as well as the data on anatomical and morphological study of the Russian specimen. The differences in the anatomical structure of its thallus are discussed. A comparison of anatomical and morphological characters of R. sekika, R. pollinaria (Westr.) Ach. (European material), R. yasudae Räsänen has been made; the author considers them as independent species.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-283
Author(s):  
S.G. Ermilov

The oribatid mite subgenus Scheloribates (Topobates) Grandjean, 1958, is recorded from the Neotropical region for the first time. A new species of this subgenus is described from the leaf litter collected in Cayo Agua Island, Panama. Scheloribates (Topobates) panamaensis sp. nov. differs from its related species by the very large body size and presence of a strong ventrodistal process on the leg femora II–IV.


1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen ◽  
Ole Karsholt

AbstractNotes are given on the identity and synonymy of five species of Lepidoptera described by Linnaeus, twenty-eight by Fabricius and two by Ström. Each species dealt with is treated under the apparent valid combination; for each species reference is given to the original description. Twenty-four new species-group name synonyms are introduced and nine new combinations are established: Nemaxera betulinella (Fabr.), Argyresthia arcella (Fabr.), Depressaria depressana (Fabr.), Chrysoesthia drurella (Fabr.), Brachmia blandella (Fabr.), Acleris laterana (Fabr.), Pseudohermenias abietana (Fabr.), Epinotia abbreviana (Fab.) and Acrobasis repandana (Fabr.). During the work two neotypes, twenty-seven lectotypes and two paralectotypes have been designated and are here cited for the first time.


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