DNA barcoding reveals hidden nemertean diversity from the Marine Protected Area Namuncurá-Burdwood Bank, Southwestern Atlantic

FERNÁNDEZ ALFAYA, JOSÉ E.; MARIANA LOZADA; BIGATTI GREGORIO

POLAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2022

0722-4060

The implementation of molecular data for the analysis of nemertean diversity hasunraveled the taxonomic status of several species and many higher taxa withinthe group. Nowadays, a largeproportion of novel putative species are being discovered and it is necessaryto add molecular data to the morphological description to obtain a correctidentification.[j1] [j2]  In this study, we used mitochondrial cytochromeoxidase I gene (COI) as molecular marker to investigate the diversity ofnemerteans from a marine Sub-Antarctic environment. We used Automatic BarcodeGap Discovery (ABGD), Poisson Tree Processes (PTP) and Bayesian implementationof the PTP model (bPTP) as well as reciprocal monophyly on neighbor-joining(NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) trees for species delimitation.[j3] [j4]  ABGD showed a clear barcoding gap (6 to 10%)and the presence of 15 different putative nemertean species in the dataset of54 COI sequences from the Marine Protected Area “Namuncurá - Burdwood Bank”(MPA-BB), expanding the known biodiversity for the Sub-Antarctic region. Tenmonostiliferan and five heteronemertean species were found[j5] [j6] . Our results also confirm the presence of two P. corrugatus cryptic species in theAntarctic and Sub-Antarctic region. Thiswork highlights the importance of the MPA-BB as a biodiversity hotspot andprovide molecular data for the Phylum Nemertea in the Southwestern AtlanticOcean.[j7] [j8]