Distinct species hidden in the widely distributed coral Coelastrea aspera (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia)

Species identification is key for coral reef conservation and restoration. Recent coral molecular-morphological studies have indicated the existence of many cryptic species. Coelastrea aspera (Verrill, 1866) is a zooxanthellate scleractinian coral that is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. In Japan, this species is distributed from the subtropical reef region to the high-latitudinal non-reef region. Previous studies have reported that C. aspera colonies in the non-reef region release egg-sperm bundles (bundle type), whereas those in the reef region release eggs and sperm separately (non-bundle type) and release planula larvae after spawning. This difference in reproduction might be relevant to species differences. To clarify the species delimitation of C. aspera, the reproduction, morphology and molecular phylogeny of C. aspera samples collected from reef and non-reef regions in Japan were analysed, along with additional morphological and molecular data of samples from northern Taiwan. The results show that C. aspera is genetically and morphologically separated into two main groups. The first group is the non-bundle type, distributed only in reef regions, whereas the second group is the bundle type, widely distributed throughout the reef and non-reef regions. Examination of type specimens of the taxon’s synonyms leads us to conclude that the first group represents the true C. aspera, whereas the second is Coelastrea incrustans comb. nov., herein re-established, that was originally described as Goniastrea incrustans Duncan, 1886, and had been treated as a junior synonym of C. aspera.

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Analysis of the differences between Syntormon pallipes and S. pseudospicatus (Diptera: Dolichopodidae): morphological and molecular data

Zoosystematica Rossica ◽

10.31610/zsr/2019.28.2.305 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 305-316

Author(s):

M.A. Chursina ◽

I.Ya. Grichanov

Keyword(s):

Dna Analysis ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Wing Shape ◽

Morphological Data ◽

12S Rrna ◽

Separate Species ◽

Geometric Morphometric ◽

Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

The recent catalogues of the family Dolichopodidae considered Syntormon pallipes (Fabricius, 1794) and S. pseudospicatus Strobl, 1899 as separate species. In this study, we used three approaches to estimate the significance of differences between the two species: molecular analysis (COI and 12S rRNA sequences), analysis of leg colour characters and geometric morphometric analysis of wing shape. The morphological data confirmed the absence of significant differences between S. pallipes and S. pseudospicatus found in the DNA analysis. Significant differences in the wing shape of two species have not been revealed. Hence, according to our data, there is no reason to consider S. pseudospicatus as a distinct species.

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A NEW SPECIES OF THE Pareas hamptoni COMPLEX (SQUAMATA, SERPENTES, PAREIDAE) FROM THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

TAPROBANICA The Journal of Asian Biodiversity ◽

10.47605/tapro.v9i2.230 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 174-193

Author(s):

Li Ding ◽

Zening Chen ◽

Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽

Tan Van Nguyen ◽

Nikolay A. Poyarkov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Yunnan Province ◽

Southern China ◽

Taxonomic Status ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Lower Number ◽

Actual Distribution ◽

Golden Triangle ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

An investigation of the taxonomic status of Pareas hamptoni (Hampton's Slug snake) based on morphological and molecular data revealed a new distinct species from the Golden Triangle region (comprising parts of southern China, and adjacent Laos and Thailand). The new species is shown to be a sister species to P. hamptoni but can be separated from the latter by having 3–5 dorsal scale rows at midbody slightly keeled (vs 5–9 scales strongly keeled); a lower number of ventrals, 170–188 (vs 185–195); and a lower number of subcaudals, 67–91 (vs 91–99). The new species is currently known from northwestern Thailand, northern Laos, and the southern part of Yunnan Province in China at elevations of 1,160–2,280 m a.s.l. We suggest that the new species to be considered of Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN‘s Red List categories. Problems of taxonomy and actual distribution of the P. hamptoni complex are briefly discussed; our results show P. hamptoni is now reliably known only from Myanmar and Vietnam, but its occurrence in Yunnan Province of China is likely.

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New free-living nematode species and records (Chromadorea: Plectida and Desmodorida) from the edge and axis of Kermadec Trench, Southwest Pacific Ocean

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.12037 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. e12037

Author(s):

Daniel Leduc

Keyword(s):

Nematode Species ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Body Contour ◽

Southwest Pacific ◽

Free Living Nematode ◽

Strong Resemblance ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

One new nematode species is described and two new species records are provided from the edge (6,080 m depth) and axis (7,132 m) of Kermadec Trench, Southwest Pacific. Leptolaimus hadalis sp. nov. is characterised by medium body 587–741 μm long, labial region not offset from body contour, inconspicuous labial sensilla, amphid located 12–19 μm from anterior end, female without supplements, male with four tubular precloacal supplements (alveolar supplements absent), tubular supplements almost straight with dentate tip, arcuate spicules and weakly cuticularized dorsal gubernacular apophyses strongly bent distally. In a previously published ecological survey of Kermadec Trench, L. hadalis sp. nov. was the most abundant species in a core obtained at 8,079 m water depth and third most abundant species in a core obtained at 7,132 m, while only one individual was found at 6,096 m depth, and none at 9,175 m depth (Leduc & Rowden, 2018). Alaimella aff. cincta and Desmodora aff. pilosa are recorded for the first time from the Southwest Pacific region. Prior to the present study, Alaimella had only been recorded from coastal locations and from the Weddell sea to a depth of 2,000 m. The record of Desmodora aff. pilosa at 6,080 m depth is the deepest record of a Desmodora species to date, although unidentified Desmodora specimens have been found as deep as 6,300 m in the South Sandwich Trench. The morphology of the Kermadec Trench Alaimella aff. cincta and Desmodora aff. pilosa specimens bear a strong resemblance to their respective type populations from the Northern Hemisphere, but further morphological and molecular data are required to ascertain whether they in fact represent distinct species.

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Species delimitation of the northeastern Anatolian Symphytum (Boraginaceae) taxa

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.516.3.3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 516 (3) ◽

Author(s):

KURTULUŞ ÖZGİŞİ ◽

BURCU TARIKAHYA-HACIOĞLU

Keyword(s):

Species Delimitation ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Infrageneric Classification ◽

Number Of Species ◽

Morphological Studies ◽

Statistical Parsimony ◽

Taxonomical Status ◽

Parsimony Network Analysis

Symphytum is regarded one of the most complicated genera in terms of the classification of its members among the Boraginaceae. In addition to different infrageneric classification methods, several species complex or aggregates have been proposed to deal with the taxonomical problem of genus members. Symphytum asperum aggregate was first introduced by Kurtto, who proposed six taxa within this aggregate. However, according to further studies by different researchers based on morphological data, total number of species of the complex was variable. The number of species was reduced to three, comprising S. asperum, S. savvalense, and S. sylvaticum, after the phylogenetic and morphological studies of Tarıkahya-Hacıoğlu and Erik. However, the taxonomical status of some of these species (i.e., S. savvalense and S. sylvaticum, and S. sepulcrale), which was assigned as a member of this complex by Kurtto, has been regarded as unresolved. To solve this uncertainty, different species delimitation methods were used, including statistical parsimony network analysis (TCS), generalized mixed Yule coalescent (GMYC), and Bayesian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography (BPP) of the ITS, trnL-F and trnS-G sequence data. In addition to members of this complex, S. ibericum, which is phylogenetically nested within the S. asperum aggregate, was also used. The TCS and GMYC analyses demonstrated more complicated clusters, whereas high posterior probabilities of BPP clusters were more compatible with the morphological data. In accordance with the morphological approach of Tarıkahya-Hacıoğlu and Erik, the species delimitation analyses based on molecular data support the recognition of S. asperum, S. ibericum, S. savvalense, and S. sylvaticum as different species.

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DIVERSITY OF GRACILARIACEAE (RHODOPHYTA) IN BRAZIL: INTEGRATING MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR DATA

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.496.1.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 496 (1) ◽

pp. 1-53

Author(s):

GOIA DE MATTOS LYRA ◽

JOSÉ MARCOS DE CASTRO NUNES ◽

EDILENE MARIA DOS SANTOS PESTANA ◽

JOÃO CARLOS GAMA DE MATOS ◽

TAIARA AGUIAR CAIRES ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Economic Value ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Tropical Species ◽

Brazilian Coast ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Mitochondrial Coi ◽

Dichotomous Key ◽

Identification Of Species ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data ◽

Selection Of Species

The Gracilariaceae comprises 242 mainly tropical species, including some with significant economic value for the food and pharmaceutical industry. Accurate taxonomy is crucial for the selection of species for cultivation. However, species identification is still challenging taxonomists. Nineteen species of Gracilariaceae have so far been referred to the Brazilian coast. We describe this diversity across approximately 32 degrees of latitude, using mitochondrial (COI-5P) and plastid (UPA and rbcL) markers in species delimitation analyses (ABGD and SPN). We provide phylogenetic (based on a concatenated three-genes tree and a taxa rich rbcL tree) and barcoding analyses from a broad and partially original collection combined with morphoanatomical data, including information resulting from analyses of type specimens and topotype material. We identified twenty-five specific entities occurring on the Brazilian coast, including four new species yet to be described. Spermatangial arrangements and aspects of thallus morphology were the most useful characters for species and genera delimitation, while characters based on the anatomy of the cystocarp overlap. Our morphological analyses demonstrate the lack of exclusive characters that justify the recently proposed Gracilariaceae infrafamilial categories, and therefore we use in this work the Gracilaria sensu lato genus concept. We provide descriptions, illustrations and a dichotomous key for the identification of species occurring in Brazil.

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Systematics of big-eyed bats, genus Chiroderma Peters, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4846.1.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4846 (1) ◽

pp. 1-93

Author(s):

GUILHERME S. T. GARBINO ◽

BURTON K. LIM ◽

VALÉRIA DA C. TAVARES

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Northeastern Brazil ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Mitochondrial Coi ◽

Western Mexico ◽

Eastern Brazil ◽

Andean South America ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

We present a revision of the Neotropical bat genus Chiroderma, commonly known as big-eyed bats. Although species of Chiroderma have a wide distribution from western México to southern Brazil, species limits within Chiroderma are not clearly defined, as attested by identification errors in the literature, and there is no comprehensive revision of the genus that includes morphological and molecular data. Our review is based on phylogenetic analyses of two mitochondrial (COI and CYTB) and two nuclear (RAG2 and DBY) genes, coalescence analyses of mitochondrial genes, and morphological analyses including type specimens of all named taxa. We recognize seven species in three clades: the first clade includes (1) C. scopaeum Handley, 1966, endemic to western México and previously considered a subspecies of C. salvini; and (2) C. salvini Dobson, 1878, a taxon associated with montane forests, distributed from México to Bolivia; the second clade includes (3) C. improvisum Baker and Genoways, 1976, endemic to the Lesser Antilles, and (4) C. villosum Peters, 1860, widely distributed on the continental mainland and polytypic, with subspecies C. v. villosum and C. v. jesupi; and the third clade includes (5) the polytypic C. doriae Thomas, 1891, with C. d. doriae distributed in eastern Brazil and Paraguay, and C. d. vizottoi, occurring in northeastern Brazil; (6) C. trinitatum Goodwin, 1958, distributed from Trinidad to Amazonia; and (7) C. gorgasi Handley, 1960, distributed from Honduras to trans-Andean South America, previously considered a subspecies of C. trinitatum.

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Morphological studies and molecular data on a new marine ciliate, Apokeronopsis sinica n. sp. (Ciliophora: Urostylida), from the South China Sea

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2005.1.5 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2005 (1) ◽

pp. 57-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

WEIWEI LIU ◽

JIQIU LI ◽

SHAN GAO ◽

CHEN SHAO ◽

JUN GONG ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Data ◽

Small Subunit ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Small Subunit Rrna ◽

Cortical Granules ◽

Marine Ciliate ◽

Morphological Studies ◽

Small Subunit Rrna Gene ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

The morphology of a new marine urostylid ciliate, Apokeronopsis sinica n. sp., collected from the Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, was investigated. Additionally, the SSrRNA gene was sequenced in order to make a comparison at molecular level. Based on both morphological and molecular data, descriptions and comparisons with its congeners are provided. Apokeronopsis sinica is characterized by: body size about 150–200 × 50–65 µm in vivo; two kinds of cortical granules; about 20 cirri in frontal area which form the non-typical bicorona; 2 frontoterminal, ca. 4 buccal and 10 transverse cirri; midventral complex consists of 21–32 pairs of cirri; on average 35 right and 30 left marginal cirri; about 50 membranelles; invariably 3 dorsal kineties. A key to the identification of the known Apokeronopsis species was suggested. The small subunit rRNA gene sequence differences between Apokeronopsis sinica and its congeners range from 1.64% to 3.72%.

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A phylogenetic analysis for the South-east Asian mite harvestman family Stylocellidae (Opiliones:Cyphophthalmi) – a combined analysis using morphometric and molecular data

Invertebrate Systematics ◽

10.1071/is09044 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 515 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Ronald M. Clouse ◽

Benjamin L. de Bivort ◽

Gonzalo Giribet

Keyword(s):

Missing Data ◽

East Asian ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Large Species ◽

Morphometric Data ◽

The South ◽

Missing Measurements ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Size Information ◽

Morphological Studies

In an effort to place type specimens lacking molecular data into a phylogenetic framework ahead of a taxonomic revision, we used morphometric data, both alone and in combination with a molecular dataset, to generate phylogenetic hypotheses under the parsimony criterion for 107 members of the South-east Asian mite harvestman family Stylocellidae (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi). For the morphometric analyses, we used undiscretised characters, analysed for independence and collapsed by principal components analysis (PCA) when dependent. Two challenges not previously encountered in the use of this method were (a) handling terminals with missing data, necessitated by the inclusion of old and damaged type specimens, and (b) controlling for extreme variation in size. Custom scripts for independence analysis were modified to accommodate missing data whereby placeholder numbers were used during PCA for missing measurements. Size was controlled in four ways: choosing characters that avoided misleading size information and were easily scaled; using only locally scaled measurements; adjusting ratios by y-intercepts; and collapsing dependent characters into one. These steps removed enough size information that miniaturised and large species, suspected from molecular and discrete morphological studies to be closely related, were closely placed using morphometric data alone. Both morphometric and combined analyses generated relationships that positioned type specimens in agreement with taxonomic expectations and our knowledge of the family from prior studies. The hypotheses generated here provide new direction in linking molecular analyses with established taxonomy in this large group of South-east Asian arachnids.

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A revision of Onychelmis Hinton, 1941 (Coleoptera: Elmidae), with description of new species, DNA barcoding and notes on the geography of the genus

European Journal of Taxonomy ◽

10.5852/ejt.2021.739.1263 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 739 ◽

pp. 1-35

Author(s):

Marek Linský ◽

Zuzana Čiamporová-Zaťovičová ◽

Fedor Čiampor Jr

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Species Delimitation ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Distribution Map ◽

Line Drawings ◽

The Andes ◽

Long Time ◽

New Material ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

The genus Onychelmis Hinton, 1941 was for a long time regarded as a small taxon with only three known species distributed in the Andes. A study of new material from Ecuador, using morphological and molecular data, has resulted in the discovery of five new species: Onychelmis lenkae sp. nov., O. lobata sp. nov., O. minor sp. nov., O. onorei sp. nov. and O. splendida sp. nov. We also revised the entire genus and redescribed the three known species, O. longicollis (Sharp, 1882), O. leleupi Delève, 1968 and O. whiteheadi Spangler & Santiago, 1991. Habitus photographs of adults are provided, together with line drawings of male and female genitalia, and schematic illustrations of the distribution of femoral tomentum for each species. DNA sequences for barcoding the COI mtDNA fragment were used to support species delimitation and to suggest possible relationships among species. The revision includes a key to adults of all species of Onychelmis and notes on the biogeography of the genus, with an updated distribution map.

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Two new species of the genus Crangonyx Bate, 1859 (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from the St. Marks River Basin with notes on the “Crangonyx floridanus complex”

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4691.4.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4691 (4) ◽

pp. 301-332 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ANDREW G. CANNIZZARO ◽

THOMAS R. SAWICKI

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Related Species ◽

Species Delimitation ◽

Species Complex ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Closely Related Species ◽

Leon County ◽

Two New Species ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data

Crangonyx ephemerus n. sp. and Crangonyx pseudoephemerus n. sp. are described from the headwaters of the St. Marks River in Leon County, Florida, based on detailed morphological and molecular comparisons with the closely related species Crangonyx floridanus Bousfield, 1963. The morphological and molecular data, including three species delimitation models, lend support to the hypothesis that the taxon C. floridanus sensu lato represents a species complex. Diagnostic morphological characteristics are highlighted and discussed within this group to assist in future morphological analyses.

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