Mitochondrial DNA allows the association of life stages to facilitate species recognition and delimitation in Australian stoneflies (Plecoptera : Gripopterygidae : Newmanoperla)

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia H. Mynott

The larvae of stoneflies (Plecoptera) are important indicators for monitoring aquatic ecosystems, but the immature stages of some relevant species have not been described. Here, mitochondrial gene sequences are used to associate the adult and larval life stages for species of Newmanoperla McLellan. This study finds molecular and morphological support for five species, which include the four previously described species (N. exigua, N. hackeri, N. prona and N. thoreyi) and a newly recognised species, N. theischingeri, sp. nov., which is described herein. Molecular divergences between species for the COI fragment had minimum values of 15–18% while the maximum intraspecific divergence was 6–9%, and there was no overlap between species. Morphological characters for distinguishing the larvae of the five species were observed on the femora and included variations in the type of setation present and the area of occurrence. The combination of molecular and morphological methods enabled the larval morphology to be reassessed and has led to the following outcomes: the first formal generic larval description, a newly recognised species, updated descriptions for larvae of all species of Newmanoperla and a dichotomous key to larvae.

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4224 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
JULIA H MYNOTT ◽  
PHILLIP J SUTER ◽  
GUNTHER THEISCHINGER

The larval taxonomy of Australian stoneflies (Plecoptera) shows a large disparity in knowledge when compared to the adult taxonomy with many species having undescribed larval forms. The importance of stoneflies as an indicator group for monitoring aquatic ecosystems means knowledge of the larval taxonomy and the ability to identify species is essential. This study combined morphology and mitochondrial gene sequences to associate the adult and larval life-stages for species of Dinotoperla Tillyard. Morphological identification of adult males was recognised for 17 of the 35 Dinotoperla species and combining molecular data with morphology confirmed eight new adult-larval life stage associations. Further, molecular data supported the larval taxonomy for five morphospecies which remain unassociated. The combination of molecular and morphological methods enabled the larval morphology to be reassessed for the genus Dinotoperla and this has led to the establishment of two new genera, Odontoperla, gen. nov. and Oedemaperla, gen. nov., and the new species Dinotoperla aryballoi, sp. nov, D. tasmaniensis, sp. nov. and Oedemaperla shackletoni, sp. nov. as well as the new or updated descriptions of the larvae of 31 species and a comprehensive dichotomous key to these larvae. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2481 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. WEBB ◽  
P. J. SUTER

Bungona illiesi (Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty) n.comb. was described from a single specimen collected in northern Queensland, Australia, as a species of Cloeodes Traver. The distinguishing characteristics of a minute maxillary palp, the absence of spination on the mandibles between the mola and prostheca, narrow-elongate gills, and medially expanded labial palps were later found to occur in Bungona narilla Harker, and the two species were synonymized. Extensive collecting in northern Queensland yielded larvae and adults of Bungona that differ from B. narilla in all life stages. We believe our specimens are equivalent to B. illiesi because they were collected only a few kilometres from the type locality, at least one specimen had both minute and normally sized maxillary palps, nearly all specimens had medially expanded labial palps, and the dorsal abdominal colour pattern was similar. Sequences of a 657-bp fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I supported the recognition of two species and confirmed the association of larvae and adults of B. illiesi. Interspecific p-distances ranged from 18.8–19.4% and the maximum intraspecific divergence observed was 1.7%. Based on the combination of morphological, mitochondrial, and biogeographical data, we show B. illiesi should be recognised as a valid species distinct from B. narilla. Larvae of B. illiesi differ from those of B. narilla by having fewer robust setae on the femora and a small lateral tooth on the outer incisor of both mandibles. Male and female adults differ from those of B. narilla by having less extensive red colouration on the abdominal terga.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serita van der Wal ◽  
Joachim T. Haug

Many fields of modern systematic biology are adult-centred. This is unfortunately also the case for Cymothoidae, an ingroup of parasitic forms of Isopoda, with fishes as hosts. Different ingroups of Cymothoidae have specialised appendages that enable their fish associated lifestyles, attaching to different sites on the body of the host. The extent to which these structures vary among species and in relation different sites of attachment, and between different ontogenetic stages, is explored here. This study presents the detailed descriptions, illustrations, comparisons, and analysis of a variety of attachment structures of 13 adult and immature specimens representing three major groups Ceratothoa, Elthusa and Anilocra, along with full focus, detailed photographs of all the examined life stages. The three groups exhibit different strategies attaching to mouth, gill and externally, respectively. A statistical representation of the morphology of the dactyli, used for attaching to the host, was performed. This included a critical comparison of 10 additional species documented in literature. This is the first comprehensive description and photographs of specialised appendage morphology of immatures of Ceratothoa, as well as the first detailed micrographs of embryonic stages of Cymothoidae, and the first lateral and ventral views of immature stages of the examined species. Immature specimens possess morphological characters that can be used to distinguish between different species, but cannot be accurately identified based on diagnostic characters of adults. Quantitative analysis indicates that ontogeny plays a major role in the shape of the attachment structures (e.g. dactyli).


2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Polivanov Ottoni ◽  
José L. O. Mattos ◽  
Axel M. Katz ◽  
Pedro H.N. Bragança

Three distinct and independent molecular-based species delimitation analyses were performed among the species and populations included within theAustraloherosautranigroup, based on sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b: a tree-based method proposed by Wiens and Penkrot (WP), a Character-based DNA Barcoding (CBB) and coalescent species delimitation method termed the Bayesian Implementation of the Poisson tree processes (bPTP). The congruence of WP and CBB delimited 11 independent lineages (species), while the bPTP delimited just nine lineages. We did not favour any of the methods, and we considered the possibility of two slightly variant scenarios. A time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis is proposed based on the predominant congruence of the results of these three species delimitation methods herein applied. The monophyly of theA.autranispecies group was highly supported with maximum node support value and diagnosed by 11 nucleotide substitutions. The sister clade of theA.autranispecies group is the clade comprisingA.sp. Timbé do Sul andA.minuano. The phylogenetic analysis supports three main clades within theA.autranispecies group, supported by maximum node support value, with the Southern Mata Atlântica clade as the most basal clade. Divergence time estimates indicate that the diversification of theAustraloherosoriginated during the early Neogene, but only in the late Neogene did the processes of diversification in the southeast and north regions occur. Diversification within theAustraloherosautranispecies group occurred synchronically for the three main clades during the beginning of the Quaternary. It is demonstrated that molecular characters are valuable tools for species recognition, particularly in speciose groups with inconspicuous or difficult to record morphological characters. The resulting phylogeny of theAustraloherosautranigroup is highly compatible with the geological and biogeographic scenarios proposed for the Neogene and Quarternary shaping of the extant river basins of eastern Brazil. Despite the origin of theA.autranigroup being dated to the late Miocene, species level diversification occurred in the Pleistocene and was probably driven by headwater capture events and sea-level fluctuations.


Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Pedro María Alarcón-Elbal ◽  
Ricardo García-Jiménez ◽  
María Luisa Peláez ◽  
Jose Luis Horreo ◽  
Antonio G. Valdecasas

The systematics of many groups of organisms has been based on the adult stage. Morphological transformations that occur during development from the embryonic to the adult stage make it difficult (or impossible) to identify a juvenile (larval) stage in some species. Hydrachnidia (Acari, Actinotrichida, which inhabit mainly continental waters) are characterized by three main active stages—larval, deutonymph and adult—with intermediate dormant stages. Deutonymphs and adults may be identified through diagnostic morphological characters. Larvae that have not been tracked directly from a gravid female are difficult to identify to the species level. In this work, we compared the morphology of five water mite larvae and obtained the molecular sequences of that found on a pupa of the common mosquito Culex (Culex) pipiens with the sequences of 51 adults diagnosed as Arrenurus species and identified the undescribed larvae as Arrenurus (Micruracarus) novus. Further corroborating this finding, adult A. novus was found thriving in the same mosquito habitat. We established the identity of adult and deutonymph A. novus by morphology and by correlating COI and cytB sequences of the water mites at the larval, deutonymph and adult (both male and female) life stages in a particular case of ‘reverse taxonomy’. In addition, we constructed the Arrenuridae phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA, which supports the idea that three Arrenurus subgenera are ‘natural’: Arrenurus, Megaluracarus and Micruracarus, and the somewhat arbitrary distinction of the species assigned to the subgenus Truncaturus.


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4358 (2) ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
GLEISON ROBSON DESIDÉRIO ◽  
ANA MARIA PES ◽  
NEUSA HAMADA ◽  
JORGE LUIZ NESSIMIAN

Immature stages of many Brazilian Smicridea species remains unknown, and efforts to describe all life stages are required. In this paper, the larva and pupa of Smicridea (Rhyacophylax) gladiator Flint 1978, associated with adults through the metamorphotype method, are described and illustrated. In addition, the known distribution of this species is extended in the Brazilian Amazon Basin with new records from Amazonas state and the first record in Pará state. Information about its bionomics is also provided. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4317 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIŘÍ SKUHROVEC ◽  
PETER HLAVÁČ ◽  
JAN BATELKA

The genus Pselactus in the Cape Verde Islands is reviewed. Pselactus obesulus (Wollaston, 1867) from São Vicente is redescribed and P. strakai sp. nov. from São Nicolau is described. Both species are diagnosed and illustrated; their larvae are described, larval morphology is discussed and the current state of knowledge about immature stages of Cossoninae is summarized. The systematic position of the genus within Onycholipini is reviewed, and the placement of genus in Cossoninae is discussed. A short note on biogeography of Pselactus is provided. 


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 367 (3) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIAGO D. M. BARBOSA ◽  
RAFAELA J. TRAD ◽  
MIKLOS M. BAJAY ◽  
MARIA I. ZUCCHI ◽  
MARIA DO CARMO E. DO AMARAL

Cabomba schwartzii was described by Rataj in 1977. The species discovered in the Brazilian Amazon was said to differ from other Cabomba species in having two sepals, two petals and a lobate petal base. According to the 1991 study of Ørgaard, C. schwartzii is similar to C. aquatica in other morphological characters (C. aquatica has flowers with three sepals and three petals) and since variation in number of floral parts is common in the genus, Ørgaard synonymized both species. After an analysis of C. schwartzii type material, other herbarium collections and location of four populations (two with C. schwartzii characteristics and two with C. aquatica characteristics), we conducted an integrated morphological and genetic study to evaluate whether or not C. schwartzii is a distinct species from C. aquatica. The results reveal the species to be distinct from each other and therefore C. schwartzii should be reestablished. The floral formula for C. schwartzii is K2 C2 A2+2 G1, versus K3 C3 A3+3 G2 for C. aquatica. A detailed species description and the geographical distribution of C. schwartzii are presented with a dichotomous key to distinguish both species, together with illustrations.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262613
Author(s):  
Clara Dreyling ◽  
Martin Hasselmann

The cellular energy metabolism is one of the most conserved processes, as it is present in all living organisms. Mitochondria are providing the eukaryotic cell with energy and thus their genome and gene expression has been of broad interest for a long time. Mitochondrial gene expression changes under different conditions and is regulated by genes encoded in the nucleus of the cell. In this context, little is known about non-model organisms and we provide the first large-scaled gene expression analysis of mitochondrial-linked genes in laying hens. We analysed 28 mitochondrial and nuclear genes in 100 individuals in the context of five life-stages and strain differences among five tissues. Our study showed that mitochondrial gene expression increases during the productive life span, and reacts tissue and strain specific. In addition, the strains react different to potential increased oxidative stress, resulting from the increase in mitochondrial gene expression. The results suggest that the cellular energy metabolism as part of a complex regulatory system is strongly affected by the productive life span in laying hens and thus partly comparable to model organisms. This study provides a starting point for further analyses in this field on non-model organisms, especially in laying-hens.


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