The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)

Abstract There are two predominant sources of taxonomically useful morphological variability in the diverse tardigrade family Echiniscidae: the internal structure and surface sculpture of the cuticular plates covering the dorsum (sculpturing) and the arrangement and morphology of the trunk appendage...

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Autores principales:	Piotr Gąsiorek, Katarzyna Vončina, Diane R. Nelson, Łukasz Michalczyk
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	DNA barcoding Dorsal sculpturing Integrative taxonomy Junior synonym Nearctic Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/67c9d3605def4355a59bc6770a7a22f6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:67c9d3605def4355a59bc6770a7a22f62021-11-21T12:30:57ZThe importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)10.1186/s40851-021-00181-z2056-306Xhttps://doaj.org/article/67c9d3605def4355a59bc6770a7a22f62021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40851-021-00181-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2056-306XAbstract There are two predominant sources of taxonomically useful morphological variability in the diverse tardigrade family Echiniscidae: the internal structure and surface sculpture of the cuticular plates covering the dorsum (sculpturing) and the arrangement and morphology of the trunk appendages (chaetotaxy). However, since the appendages often exhibit intraspecific variation (they can be reduced or can develop asymmetrically), sculpturing has been considered more stable at the species level and descriptions of new echiniscid species based solely on morphology are still being published. Here, we present a case study in which a detailed analysis of the morphology and multiple genetic markers of several species of the genus Viridiscus shows that cuticular sculpture may also exhibit considerable intraspecific variation and lead to false taxonomic conclusions. In a population collected from the eastern Nearctic, in the type locality of the recently described species V. miraviridis, individuals with transitional morphotypes between those reported for V. viridissimus and V. miraviridis were found. Importantly, all morphotypes within the viridissimus–miraviridis spectrum were grouped in a single monospecific clade according to rapidly evolving markers (ITS-1, ITS-2 and COI). Given the morphological and genetic evidence, we establish V. miraviridis as a junior synonym of V. viridissimus. This study explicitly demonstrates that a lack of DNA data associated with morphological descriptions of new taxa jeopardizes the efforts to unclutter tardigrade systematics. Additionally, V. perviridis and V. viridissimus are reported from Lâm Đồng Province in southern Vietnam, which considerably broadens their known geographic ranges.Piotr GąsiorekKatarzyna VončinaDiane R. NelsonŁukasz MichalczykBMCarticleDNA barcodingDorsal sculpturingIntegrative taxonomyJunior synonymNearcticZoologyQL1-991ENZoological Letters, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	DNA barcoding Dorsal sculpturing Integrative taxonomy Junior synonym Nearctic Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	DNA barcoding Dorsal sculpturing Integrative taxonomy Junior synonym Nearctic Zoology QL1-991 Piotr Gąsiorek Katarzyna Vončina Diane R. Nelson Łukasz Michalczyk The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
description	Abstract There are two predominant sources of taxonomically useful morphological variability in the diverse tardigrade family Echiniscidae: the internal structure and surface sculpture of the cuticular plates covering the dorsum (sculpturing) and the arrangement and morphology of the trunk appendages (chaetotaxy). However, since the appendages often exhibit intraspecific variation (they can be reduced or can develop asymmetrically), sculpturing has been considered more stable at the species level and descriptions of new echiniscid species based solely on morphology are still being published. Here, we present a case study in which a detailed analysis of the morphology and multiple genetic markers of several species of the genus Viridiscus shows that cuticular sculpture may also exhibit considerable intraspecific variation and lead to false taxonomic conclusions. In a population collected from the eastern Nearctic, in the type locality of the recently described species V. miraviridis, individuals with transitional morphotypes between those reported for V. viridissimus and V. miraviridis were found. Importantly, all morphotypes within the viridissimus–miraviridis spectrum were grouped in a single monospecific clade according to rapidly evolving markers (ITS-1, ITS-2 and COI). Given the morphological and genetic evidence, we establish V. miraviridis as a junior synonym of V. viridissimus. This study explicitly demonstrates that a lack of DNA data associated with morphological descriptions of new taxa jeopardizes the efforts to unclutter tardigrade systematics. Additionally, V. perviridis and V. viridissimus are reported from Lâm Đồng Province in southern Vietnam, which considerably broadens their known geographic ranges.
format	article
author	Piotr Gąsiorek Katarzyna Vončina Diane R. Nelson Łukasz Michalczyk
author_facet	Piotr Gąsiorek Katarzyna Vončina Diane R. Nelson Łukasz Michalczyk
author_sort	Piotr Gąsiorek
title	The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
title_short	The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
title_full	The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
title_fullStr	The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
title_full_unstemmed	The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)
title_sort	importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus viridiscus (heterotardigrada: echiniscidae)
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/67c9d3605def4355a59bc6770a7a22f6
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The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)

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