Zoologica Scripta

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12545pmid: N/A

Bachmann, Lutz; Ericson, Per G. P.; Vårdal, Hege

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12594pmid: N/A

Bachmann, Lutz; Beermann, Jan; Brey, Thomas; Boer, Hugo J.; Dannheim, Jennifer; Edvardsen, Bente; Ericson, Per G. P.; Holston, Kevin C.; Johansson, Veronika A.; Kloss, Paul; Konijnenberg, Rebecca; Osborn, Karen J.; Pappalardo, Paula; Pehlke, Hendrik; Piepenburg, Dieter;

Glaubrecht, Matthias

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12592pmid: N/A

For too long and with ever‐increasing ferocity during the past decades of an exponentially growing human world population, humankind has been waging a genuine war against nature, of which we ourselves are nevertheless also a part. We are plundering the unique biological treasure, the diversity of species, without which the ecosystems we rely on for our food, our water and so much more would not function. At present, we are already in the midst of a massive decline of populations and species, with a significantly higher extinction rate than the long‐term average. Driven essentially by habitat loss and degradation, direct exploitation through legal and illegal hunting and fishing as well as pesticides and pollution, within decades, 1 million species out of a total of 8 million could go extinct. Alongside climate change, this dramatic decay of biodiversity, that involves also the subsequent loss of ecosystem services, here termed ‘the end of evolution’, is another and by no means lesser threat to humanity. We can still take countermeasures, but we must transform our economy and change our way of living. As most successful strategy the protection of up to 30% of Earth's surface by 2030 was suggested, ideally based on the implementation of a consistent framework of global ecosystems, as it was agreed on by the December 2022 United Nations Conference of Parties (COP15) Montreal meeting for the Conservation on Biological Diversity.

Fleming, James F.

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12591pmid: N/A

Public databases such as the NCBI's GenBank have been used as repositories for genomic studies for more than 30 years. In this time, our understanding of the natural world, and especially the genomic world, has expanded vastly, and the size of these databases represent this genomic revolution. Databases like GenBank now help populate many molecular studies, supplementing a researcher's newly gathered data with publicly available sequences. Despite this, older sequence records, particularly those from understudied taxa, are frequently not updated in line with this burgeoning understanding, and this means that analyses that leverage this public data – from BLAST through to phylogenetic analyses – cannot do so with the full force of its collective understanding. This is particularly true for environmental DNA (eDNA) records, where older sequence records may identify sequences only to the phylum level, limiting their use in many studies. Here, with a case study of tardigrade 18S sequences, the family identities of 630 sequences, previously only identified to the phylum level, were established using 501 family, genus and species level 18S sequences, effectively doubling the depth and taxonomic resolution of tardigrade 18S sequences in GenBank.

Berrilli, Emanuele; Biondi, Maurizio; D'Alessandro, Paola; Salvi, Daniele

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12574pmid: N/A

Species identification and delimitation are particularly challenging for morphologically similar and geographically overlapping species, such as in the case of Western Palaearctic flea beetle species Psylliodes kiesenwetteri Kutschera, 1864 and Psylliodes ruffoi Leonardi, 1975. In this study, we implemented an integrative taxonomic approach based on a comprehensive geographic assessment of morphological and genetic variation, including 142 adult specimens from 15 sympatric and allopatric populations. Results of species delimitation methods using the barcode marker COI show that molecular identification and delimitation between P. kiesenwetteri and P. ruffoi are straightforward. Single‐locus and multi‐locus phylogenetic analyses indicate these two species have a large genetic divergence and belong to two distinct clades of the Psylliodes gibbosa species group. Morphological identification based on qualitative characters shows great differences in identification success depending on the character used. Characters of male and female genitalia perform very well, but can only be assessed on fully sclerified individuals, whereas the colour of antennae was discovered as a new reliable diagnostic character both for teneral and fully sclerified individuals. Morphological identification is particularly sharp when multiple characters are used in combination or when a morphometric approach is performed. In conclusion, despite overall morphological similarity, P. kiesenwetteri and P. ruffoi are not cryptic species neither they are sibling species, as they belong to distinct clades within the gibbosa species group, and they can be reliably distinguished by morphological characters. This study substantiates the relevance of a range‐wide assessment of morphological and genetic variation, including individuals from the type locality, and both sympatric and allopatric populations, for taxonomic assessment of morphologically similar species with overlapping ranges.

Davis, Hayden R.; Nashriq, Izneil; Woytek, Kyra S.; Wikramanayake, Shanelle A.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Karin, Benjamin R.; Brennan, Ian G.; Iskandar, Djoko T.; Das, Indraneil

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12575pmid: N/A

Using molecular genetic data, recognised diversity within the gecko genus Cyrtodactylus has more than doubled, with many lineages that were once thought to be wide‐ranging being delimited into multiple independent species. On the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, there has been a recent renewed focus on reptile taxonomy, as genetic data have demonstrated a high amount of unrecognised biodiversity. We herein advance this taxonomic trend by delimiting three distinct species within the Cyrtodactylus consobrinus species complex: C. consobrinus, C. kapitensis sp. n., and C. hutan sp. n. To do so, we use a combination of ddRADseq and single‐locus data, and morphological data. Using genomic data, we test species and population boundaries within the consobrinus species complex and show minimal population structure but high species‐level diversity. Despite not finding uniquely diagnostic morphological characters to delimit the new species, we suggest a combination of characters that can be used to identify each lineage. Lastly, we use our data to comment on the status of C. malayanus, with indications that this lineage is also better considered a species complex. These data highlight the prevalence of unrecognised lineages on Borneo, many of which face threats due to increasing deforestation and other anthropogenic pressures.

Duan, Yujie; Fu, Siying; Ye, Zhen; Bu, Wenjun

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12582pmid: N/A

Urostylididae, a phytophagous heteropteran family that feeds on the sap of various trees and shrubs, comprises 8 genera and 173 species. Its phylogeny has received little attention, and no studies have revealed its generic monophyly or relationships. We present the first molecular phylogeny of Urostylididae based on complete mitogenomes and nuclear ribosomal genes from almost all genera and representative species, using maximum likelihood analysis and Bayesian inference. All phylogenetic results showed overall consistent topological relationships, indicating polyphyly of the three most speciose genera, Urolabida, Urochela, and Urostylis. Among the three monotypic genera, Chelurotropella formed a stable relationship with Urochela wui in all trees, Cobbenicoris was a stable sister group of Urostylis fici but with position variation among trees, and Urochellus formed a sister group with Urostylis cuneata or species of two or more genera in different trees. The smaller genus Tessaromerus was always sister to Urostylis tricarinata, but their positions varied among trees. Thus, the currently recognized genera of Urostylididae are unreliable. Furthermore, our phylogenetic results suggested some topological incongruence among the trees produced with different analytical methods and data sets, mainly among deep internal nodes, with short branches and low support values. Given the quartet‐based evaluation system and branch patterns, Urostylididae underwent rapid radiation resulting in incomplete lineage sorting and introgression in our data sets, making our phylogenetic analyses more sensitive to the data or method used. Moreover, the rapid radiation might have caused morphological homoplasy of diagnostic characters of genera, leading to taxonomic confusion for Urostylididae. Therefore, a thorough taxonomic revision of this family is needed.

Walczak, Kinga; Pape, Thomas; Ekanem, Mfon; Szpila, Krzysztof; Grzywacz, Andrzej

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12584pmid: N/A

The muscid genera Alluaudinella Giglio‐Tos, 1895, Aethiopomyia Malloch, 1921 and Ochromusca Malloch, 1927 form a monophyletic group supported by immature and adult morphology and a highly specialised snail‐feeding strategy of immature stages. In contrast to the undoubted monophyly of the Alluaudinella‐Aethiopomyia‐Ochromusca clade, previous studies have provided contradictory hypotheses of the subfamiliar position within the Muscidae, and these three genera have been placed in the subfamily Muscinae, Dichaetomyiinae, Phaoniinae and Reinwardtiinae. The systematic position of Alluaudinella, as a representative of Alluaudinella, Aethiopomyia and Ochromusca group, is revised by means of larval morphology, biology and molecular data. Light microscopy (LM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to study the egg and all larval instars of Alluaudinella flavicornis (Macquart, 1855) and a multilocus Sanger sequencing (mS‐seq) approach to examine position within Muscidae. Results are inconsistent with the traditional, morphology‐based concept of the Alluaudinella‐Aethiopomyia‐Ochromusca clade as closely related to Dichaetomyia Malloch, 1921, and the phylogenetic analysis revealed no support for inclusion within subfamily Phaoniinae. Larval morphology in Alluaudinella differs significantly from that of Dichaetomyia (and other Phaoniinae), but resembles that of genera nested in Reinwardtiinae. Based on molecular data and larval morphology a transfer of Alluaudinella, Aethiopomyia and Ochromusca to the subfamily Reinwardtiinae is proposed.

Tan, Koh Siang; Tan, Samuel H. M.; Sanpanich, Kitithorn; Duangdee, Teerapong; Ambarwati, Reni

doi: 10.1111/zsc.12585pmid: N/A

Three species of mussels collected from fresh‐ and low salinity (10 psu or lower) brackish‐water environments in southern Thailand, Singapore, northern Borneo and south Sulawesi formed a new, well‐supported and distinct mytilid clade based on molecular phylogeny. All are small (< 30 mm) species with either radially ribbed or smooth shells. Internally, the upper edges of the ascending lamellae of the outer and inner demibranchs are, respectively, fused to the mantle lobes and visceral mass. A new genus Parabrachidontes is proposed to accommodate the three species. Of the species in the new genus, one is described as new (Parabrachidontes amnicus sp. n.), and the other two poorly known species (P. leucostictus and P. cochinensis) are re‐described. The Parabrachidontes clade is closely related to Mytella, Perna and Arcuatula. Together, they formed a well‐supported clade, most members of which have ctenidial edges attached to the mantle and/or visceral mass. These genera are clearly distinct phylogenetically from two other mytilid clades containing brackish‐ and fresh‐water species with ctenidia free of the mantle: one comprising the genera Limnoperna and Sinomytilus (together constituting the Limnoperninae), and the other Xenostrobus and Vignadula (forming the Xenostrobinae). We therefore suggest the existence of at least three lineages of mytilids living in rivers and estuaries of East Asia and Australasia.