Molecular taxonomy confirms that the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea harbor a single lancelet, Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Pallas, 1774) (Cephalochordata: Leptocardii: Branchiostomatidae)

Branchiostomatidae (lancelets or amphioxus) comprises about 30 species, several of which are well-established models in evolutionary development. Our zoological and ecological knowledge of the family is nonetheless limited. Despite evident differences can be found among known populations, the taxono...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2021-05, Vol.16 (5), p.e0251358-e0251358
Main Authors: Caccavale, Filomena, Osca, David, D'Aniello, Salvatore, Crocetta, Fabio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Atlantic Ocean
Biology and Life Sciences
Branchiostoma lanceolatum
Cephalochordata
Coasts
Computer and Information Sciences
Developmental biology
DNA - genetics
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Evolution
Genera
Genes
Genomes
Geographical distribution
Intestine
Invertebrates
Lancelets - classification
Lancelets - genetics
Larvae
Marine ecology
Markov analysis
Mediterranean Sea
Mitochondria - genetics
Morphology
Multilocus Sequence Typing
New records
Pharynx
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Research and Analysis Methods
Sequence Alignment
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Species
Species diversity
Taxonomy
Vertebrates
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Summary:Branchiostomatidae (lancelets or amphioxus) comprises about 30 species, several of which are well-established models in evolutionary development. Our zoological and ecological knowledge of the family is nonetheless limited. Despite evident differences can be found among known populations, the taxonomy of Branchiostoma lanceolatum (type species of the genus Branchiostoma) has never been investigated with modern methods through its range in the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. We address this via a multilocus molecular approach and comparing specimens collected from different European populations. Results obtained here confirm the presence of a single species inhabiting the range between the topotypical localities of B. lanceolatum (Atlantic Ocean) and of its junior synonym B. lubricum (Mediterranean Sea), without evincing geographical structure between populations. This suggests that environment most likely drives the characteristics observed in different geographic areas. The long larval phase and the slow mutation rate in lancelets may have played a key role in the evolutionary history of this iconic species.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0251358