Open AccessTaxonomy and molecular phylogeny of the N eotropical genus A tlantoscia ( O niscidea, P hilosciidae): DNA barcoding and description of two new species
Author(s) -
Zimmermann Bianca L.,
CamposFilho Ivanklin S.,
Deprá Maríndia,
Araujo Paula B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/zoj.12256
Subject(s) - dna barcoding , biology , taxonomy (biology) , phylogenetic tree , phylogenetics , taxon , evolutionary biology , molecular phylogenetics , zoology , mitochondrial dna , genetic divergence , ecology , gene , genetic diversity , genetics , population , demography , sociology
Identification to the species level using morphology is challenging when usual diagnostic characters are similar amongst related taxa. Within the N eotropical genus Atlantoscia , differences between nominal species are generally small and restricted to a few characters. Despite the power of DNA sequencing to identify and distinguish between species, molecular phylogenies of terrestrial isopods from the N eotropics have not been determined. In this study, two new species of A tlantoscia were described and molecular markers were used to verify both the validity of the current taxonomy and the relationships amongst the species within this genus. All of the recognized A tlantoscia species were strongly supported in the generated phylogenetic trees. The average congeneric distance was 14.7%, with A tlantoscia ituberasensis and A tlantoscia rubromarginata showing the highest genetic divergence. Our results demonstrate the utility of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene together with DNA barcoding to reliably distinguish Atlantoscia species. They also show that DNA barcoding may be helpful in those cases in which classical taxonomy does not provide clear‐cut species resolution. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London