Marine Biodiversity最新文献

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding leverages genetic material present in the habitat for detection of species and has great potential for rapid biodiversity assessment. Comprehensive eDNA characterization of marine metazoan biodiversity requires broad amplification of genetic markers or complementary loci to detect a wide diversity of taxa. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of the universal cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and marine vertebrate 16S ribosomal RNA markers to recover coastal marine taxa from eDNA samples collected along the urban coast of Singapore. We recovered 260 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) from a total of 12 L of water (triplicates of 1 L at each of four sites) with no overlap of MOTUs observed between the two assays despite the expectation that the COI primer set could potentially amplify a broad range of metazoans. Notably, our COI assay identified mainly invertebrates, while the 16S assay primarily recovered vertebrates. For the relatively new 16S barcoding marker, we applied two species delimitation programs on a curated, comprehensive vertebrate dataset to determine the distance threshold between intra- and interspecific comparisons (2%). Community analyses revealed that metazoan communities were distinct between sites for both assays. In addition, DNA metabarcoding was shown to be helpful for the monitoring of non-indigenous and threatened marine species, such as Mytella strigata and Aetobatus ocellatus, respectively. Our findings highlight the potential of a complementary multi-marker approach for biomonitoring invertebrates and vertebrates comprehensively across distinct habitats.

Pelagic polychaetes were collected in the Bransfield Strait, the Weddell Sea, and near the South Orkney Islands area in the austral summer of 2022 during the 87^th cruise of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. The collected material was studied using morphological, taxonomic, and molecular methods; 18S and D1 regions of 28S genes were used as molecular markers. In total, 17 species were recognized in the studied material, including Alciopini (2), Lopadorrhynchidae (4), Iospilidae (1), Typhloscolecidae (6), and Tomopteridae (4). We clarified relationships between Vanadis antarctica McIntosh, 1885, and V. longissima (Levinsen, 1885). One new typhloscolecid Typhloscolex keldyshi sp. nov. and two new species of Lopadorrhynchidae Pelagobia albertych sp. nov. and Pelagobia torquata sp. nov. have been described. Also, we propose to restore Pelagobia viguieri Gravier, 1911, based on molecular data.

The acrothoracican genus Berndtia Utinomi, 1950 includes small barnacles known to bore into the calcareous skeleton of living scleractinian corals of the genera Psammocora Dana, 1846 and Leptastrea Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849. The six known species of Berndtia are restricted to the tropical Western Pacific. We provide the first record of Berndtia from the hydrocoral Millepora exaesa Forsskål, 1775 from the central Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, and the scleractinian coral Coscinaraea cf. monile (Forsskål, 1775) from the Arabian Sea, Oman. These findings extend the known range and host use of the genus and raise questions about Berndtia’s host specificity. A molecular analysis of Saudi Arabian and Omani specimens suggests that they belong to two new lineages that may represent new species of Berndtia, each associated with multiple hosts. Further sampling around the Arabian Peninsula and the Western Indian Ocean and exploration of additional potential hosts would provide new insights into the species diversity of the genus.