A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Morphological and taxonomic demarcation of Brachionus asplanchnoidis Charin within the Brachionus plicatilis cryptic species complex (Rotifera, Monogononta)
Authors: Evangelia Michaloudi, Scott Mills, Spiros Papakostas, Claus-Peter Stelzer, Alexander Triantafyllidis, Ilias Kappas, Kalliopi Vasileiadou, Konstantinos Proios, Theodore John Abatzopoulos
Publisher: SPRINGER
Publication year: 2017
Journal: Hydrobiologia
Journal name in source: HYDROBIOLOGIA
Journal acronym: HYDROBIOLOGIA
Volume: 796
Issue: 1
First page : 19
Last page: 37
Number of pages: 19
ISSN: 0018-8158
eISSN: 1573-5117
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2924-2
Abstract
Three well-defined groups, consisting of 15 species, have recently been ascribed to organisms historically identified as the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. One of these groups, the large clade, is composed of two named species (Brachionus plicatilis s.s. and Brachionus manjavacas) and two species identifiers (B. 'Nevada' and B. 'Austria'). B. 'Austria' has been confirmed to be B. asplanchnoidis. As no type specimen exists for this species, and the original taxonomic description is lacking in detail, we give a detailed account of this species using material from Obere Halbjochlacke in Austria where B. 'Austria' was first identified genetically. Our analysis of B. asplanchnoidis populations was of global scope, an approach that revealed a great degree of morphological variability. However, combining aspects of both the dorsal and ventral surfaces clearly discriminated B. asplanchnoidis from the rest of the large-type members. This approach may prove useful in taxonomic studies of other cryptic species with relatively few morphological features. We also observed a geographic pattern of genetic divergence within B. asplanchnoidis. Average uncorrected COI divergences for a 554-bp fragment of the COI gene ranged from 3.9% within species to 17.5% between species of the large clade and indicate deep divisions within the cryptic species complex.
Three well-defined groups, consisting of 15 species, have recently been ascribed to organisms historically identified as the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. One of these groups, the large clade, is composed of two named species (Brachionus plicatilis s.s. and Brachionus manjavacas) and two species identifiers (B. 'Nevada' and B. 'Austria'). B. 'Austria' has been confirmed to be B. asplanchnoidis. As no type specimen exists for this species, and the original taxonomic description is lacking in detail, we give a detailed account of this species using material from Obere Halbjochlacke in Austria where B. 'Austria' was first identified genetically. Our analysis of B. asplanchnoidis populations was of global scope, an approach that revealed a great degree of morphological variability. However, combining aspects of both the dorsal and ventral surfaces clearly discriminated B. asplanchnoidis from the rest of the large-type members. This approach may prove useful in taxonomic studies of other cryptic species with relatively few morphological features. We also observed a geographic pattern of genetic divergence within B. asplanchnoidis. Average uncorrected COI divergences for a 554-bp fragment of the COI gene ranged from 3.9% within species to 17.5% between species of the large clade and indicate deep divisions within the cryptic species complex.
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