Redescription ofHargeria rapax(Harger, 1879) and description ofH. chetumalensisa new species from the Mexican Caribbean (Crustacea, Peracarida, Tanaidacea, Leptocheliidae) based upon morphological and molecular evidence

Abstract

Until now, Hargeria was considered a monospecific leptocheliid genus, with the species Hargeria rapax considered a taxon with a wide distribution, from the Northwestern Atlantic to the Mexican Caribbean. Herein, after a detailed revision of type and topotype materials and specimens collected from the Mexican Caribbean, a new species H. chetumalensis sp. nov. is described, and the redescription of H. rapax is provided. Also, we found a significant genetic divergence between the two species based on the nucleotide sequences of cytochrome oxidase subunit I, which support the morphological data. The morphological features used to recognize both species are also adequate to link males, females, and juvenile stages, although these species have a high intraspecific polymorphism.

Chondrochelia Guţu, 2016 (Crustacea, Peracarida, Tanaidacea, Leptocheliidae) from North America: new species, redescription and distribution using morphological and molecular data

“…For molecular studies the gene Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) was used as it has been efficient in recognizing crustacean taxa, including peracarids ( Larsen, 2001 ; Costa et al, 2007 ; Jarquín-González & Carrera-Parra, 2019 ; Błażewicz et al, 2019 ). The DNA was extracted using the whole organism following the protocol of Ivanova, deWaard & Hebert, 2006 and DNA barcoding was carried out at the Canadian Center for DNA Barcoding (University of Guelph), following the standard protocols of the program “Barcode of the Life.” Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) nucleotide sequences were amplified by PCR using ZplankF1_t1 (5′-TGTAAAACGACGGCCAGTTCTASWAATCATAARGATATTGG-3′) and ZplankR1_t1 (5′-CAGGAAACAGCTATGACTTCAGGRTGRCCRAARAATCA-3′) primer set with the thermocycler program (94 °C for 40 s, 45 °C for 40 s, 72 °C for 1 min), then 35 cycles of (94 °C for 40 s, 51 °C for 40 s, 72 °C for 1 min) and a final extension of 72 °C for 5 min ( Prosser, Martínez-Arce & Elías-Gutierrez, 2013 ).…”