Systematics of Polybranchia Pease, 1860 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Sacoglossa) based on molecular and morphological data
Medrano, S.; Krug, P.J.; Gosliner, T.M.; Kumar, A.B.; Valdés, Á. (2019). Systematics of Polybranchia Pease, 1860 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Sacoglossa) based on molecular and morphological data. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 186(1): 76-115. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zly050
In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Academic Press: London. ISSN 0024-4082; e-ISSN 1096-3642, more
|  |
| Keywords |
Heterobranchia [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Heterobranchia, new species, species delineation, taxonomic revision |
| Authors | | Top |
- Medrano, S.
- Krug, P.J.
- Gosliner, T.M.
|
|
|
| Abstract |
Polybranchia Pease, 1860 is a tropical and subtropical genus of sacoglossan heterobranch sea slugs. Eight nominal species of Polybranchia have been described; however, the taxonomic status of most species is uncertain. Here, we present an integrative assessment of species diversity in Polybranchia. Two methods of molecular species delimitation support seven distinct species in samples from the Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, Indo-West Pacific and the Red Sea, but only one available name (P. orientalis) can be assigned to one of these seven species. The remaining six species are described based on integrative analysis of molecular data, morphology and ecology. Based on published data, two additional species from Australia (P. westralis and P. pallens) are recognized as distinct. Polybranchia rubicunda and P. sagamiense are likely valid as well, but original descriptions are incomplete. The name P. viridis likely corresponds to a species of Caliphylla; thus, new species names are introduced for Caribbean and Eastern Pacific species of Polybranchia. The Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic species P. borgninii is most likely a species of Mourgona. The remaining available names are considered nomina dubia. Strikingly, Caribbean and Eastern Pacific species are not geminates, with most analyses supporting a recent origin of Polybranchia in the Eastern Pacific from the Indo-West Pacific. Evolutionary relationships among species were inferred from phylogenetic analyses of five gene regions, which recovered a monophyletic Polybranchia within the family Caliphyllidae. |
|
