Combining morphological and molecular data resolves the phylogeny of Squilloidea (Crustacea : Malacostraca)

Abstract

The mantis shrimp superfamily Squilloidea, with over 185 described species, is the largest superfamily in the crustacean order Stomatopoda. To date, phylogenetic relationships within this superfamily have been comprehensively analysed using morphological data, with six major generic groupings being recovered. Here, we infer the phylogeny of Squilloidea using a combined dataset comprising 75 somatic morphological characters and four molecular markers. Nodal support is low when the morphological and molecular datasets are analysed separately but improves substantially when combined in a total-evidence phylogenetic analysis. We obtain a well resolved and strongly supported phylogeny that is largely congruent with previous estimates except that the Anchisquilloides-group, rather than the Meiosquilla-group, is the earliest-branching lineage in Squilloidea. The splits among the Anchisquilloides- and Meiosquilla-groups are followed by those of the Clorida-, Harpiosquilla-, Squilla- and Oratosquilla-groups. Most of the generic groups are recovered as monophyletic, with the exception of the Squilla- and Oratosquilla-groups. However, many genera within the Oratosquilla-group are not recovered as monophyletic. Further exploration with more extensive molecular sampling will be needed to resolve relationships within the Oratosquilla-group and to investigate the adaptive radiation of squilloids. Overall, our results demonstrate the merit of combining morphological and molecular datasets for resolving phylogenetic relationships.

Coming out of your shell or crawling back in: multiple interphylum host switching events within a clade of bivalve- and ascidian-associated shrimps (Caridea: Palaemonidae)

“…A total evidence (te) analysis was done, similar to the one used in Van Der Wal et al (2019). For this approach, concatenation of the molecular and morphological data was performed manually using a standard text editor.…”

The complete mitochondrial genome of Lophosquillia costata (Malacostraca: Stomatopoda) from China and phylogeny of stomatopods

“…Stomatopods form an important component of marine ecosystems and are economically significant (Van Der Wal et al. 2019 ). The largest superfamily the order of Stomatopoda is Squilloidea, which is morphologically diverse and includes over 185 species in 49 genera (Ahyong 2001 , 2005 ; Van Der Wal and Ahyong 2017 ).…”

Reappearance of stomatopod Gonodactylus platysoma (Wood-Mason, 1895) after an era from the intertidal region of Chota Balu, South Andaman, India

“…There are 500 extant Stomatopoda species globally under seven superfamilies and 20 families (van Der Wal et al 2019). Recently, Trivedi et al (2020 listed 72 species, 35 genera, 10 families and five superfamilies from various parts of Indian coastal waters.…”