Systematic rearrangements in an all-genus phylogeny of side-gilled slugs (Heterobranchia: Pleurobranchida)
Author
Moles, Juan
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
juan.moles@ub.edu
Author
Brenzinger, Bastian
SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Section Mollusca, Münchhausenstrasse 21, D- 81247 Munich, Germany
Author
Berning, Maria I.
SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Section Mollusca, Münchhausenstrasse 21, D- 81247 Munich, Germany
Author
Martynov, Alexander
Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str. 6, 125009 Moscow, Russia
Author
TatianaKorshunova
Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology RAS, Moscow 119334, Russia
Author
Schrödl, Michael
SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Section Mollusca, Münchhausenstrasse 21, D- 81247 Munich, Germany & Biozentrum Ludwig Maximilians University and GeoBio-Center LMU Munich, Germany
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2024
2023-12-26
202
2
1
11
https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad162
journal article
10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad162
0024-4082
14422258
Systematics of
Tomthompsonia
and
Pleurobranchaeidae
Pleurobranchidaisrecoveredmonophyleticwithfullsupportand includes three main clades. For the first time in molecular phylogeny,
Tomthompsonia antarctica
(
Fig. 1A
) forms a discrete, early divergent clade with maximum support across matrices and analyses. Thus, we erect
Tomthompsoniidae
fam. nov.
to encompass a single known genus and species endemic to deep waters in
Antarctica
(
Thiele 1912
, Wägele and Hain 1991,
Hain
et al.
1993
). Then, two main clades sister to each other are recovered,
Pleurobranchaeidae
and
Pleurobranchidae
(bs = 88, pp = 0.95). Within
Pleurobranchaeidae
, the
type
species
Euselenops luniceps
(
Fig. 1B
) is first found as a sister to a clade composed of the
type
species of both
Pleurobranchaea
and
Pleurobranchella
.
Among the
four specimens
of
Euselenops
available, a conflicting signal is found in the 18S of the specimens sequenced by Wollscheid-Lengeling
et al.
(2001) and, unfortunately, their relationships are not always well-recovered (see Supporting Information,
Figs S1
, S2). Excluding these from our concatenated analyses rendered
Pleurobranchaeidae
monophyletic without maximum support (bs = 91).
COI p
-distances for both remaining specimens of
E. luniceps
from
Singapore
and
Vietnam
seem to represent cases of hidden speciation (86% identity). Considering both
type
taxa
Pleurobranchaea meckeli
(Blainville
, 1825) (
Fig. 1C
) and
Pleurobranchella nicobarica
Thiele
, 1925 (
Fig. 1D
) were present in our dataset, and
Pleurobranchella
is placed within a clade composed of
P. meckeli
,
P. maculata
(Quoy and Gaimard
, 1832),
P. californica
MacFarland
, 1966, and
P. japonica
Thiele
, 1925 (bs = 100, pp = 1). However,
Pleurobranchella
is morphologically distinct from
Pleurobranchaea
, including such immediately recognizable features as an ample notum and differences in the reproductive system (Martynov and Schrödl 2009). We, therefore, keep the genus
Pleurobranchella
distinct and valid. Finally,
P.
cf.
novaezealandiae
from the Western Pacific clusters with our
P. japonica
from
Japan
with a 99.1% identity, thus suggesting both specimens belong to
P. japonica
.