Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/34338
Title: An integrative taxonomic approach reveals the first marine triclad (Platyhelminthes) trapped in a cave from a semiarid Neotropical environment
Keywords: Molecular taxonomy
Stygofauna
Tricladida
Issue Date: 8-May-2018
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Citation: SOUZA, S. et al. An integrative taxonomic approach reveals the first marine triclad (Platyhelminthes) trapped in a cave from a semiarid Neotropical environment. Invertebrate Systematics, [S.l.], v. 32, n. 3, p. 627-638, 2018. DOI: 10.1071/IS17062.
Abstract: A new genus and species of the suborder Maricola, representing the first marine triclad living in freshwater within a cave, is described. These flatworms show specialised features, such as a lack of pigmentation and eyes, indicating their troglobitic condition. Until now, cave-dwelling triclads have only been found as representatives of the other two triclad lineages. The phylogenetic trees based on 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA genes showed their sequences to form a clade situated in a rather derived position within the Maricola. Combining maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses along with morphological studies, we undertake the first integrative description of a marine triclad. The new genus is characterised by a secondary copulatory bursa and ovaries located behind the root of the pharynx. Nevertheless, its assignment to a family of Maricola was a difficult task especially due to the paucity of unique defining morphological features of their families. The new species is found in a semiarid environment that suffered marine transgressions and regressions during the Cretaceous, which may explain the presence of this originally marine species in a freshwater cave. The restricted distribution of the new species and recent environmental conditions detected at its type locality raise major concern for its conservation.
URI: http://www.publish.csiro.au/is/IS17062
http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/34338
Appears in Collections:DBI - Artigos publicados em periódicos

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