The future of nemertean taxonomy (phylum Nemertea) — a proposal

Abstract

Turbeville, J.M. , Strand, M. (2016). The future of nemertean taxonomy (phylum Nemertea)a proposal. -Zoologica Scripta, 45: 579-582.

A new member of the genus Antarctonemertes (Hoplonemertea, Nemertea) from Antarctic waters

“…1 3 Sundberg et al (2016a), as opposed to other authors (e.g. Gibson 1985;Roe et al 2007), proposed that histological features should not be included as a prerequisite to describe/ redescribe new nemertean fauna and that they instead should only be used to address questions about internal organ systems functionality and evolution.…”

“…In fact, several internal characters used to differentiate between species and genera of nemerteans can sometimes show high levels of intraspecific variation (Envall and Sundberg 1993). In their manifesto, Sundberg et al (2016a) suggested that description and redescription of nemertean species should be accepted if they contain information about DNA sequences (at least cytochrome c oxidase -COI-), a description of the external characters including information on the ecology of the species, and type material of voucher specimens being fixed in preservatives ensuring future studies on the DNA of the species.…”

“…However, most of the described nemertean species are known to have inadequate taxonomic descriptions, either lacking or having inadequately documented histological characters and/or lacking proper descriptions of their external features that are commonly lost as a preservation artefact (Gibson 1995). To solve this taxonomical conundrum, a group of nemertean taxonomic experts have recently proposed that traditional histological techniques to describe internal characters are not essential for identification and description purposes (Sundberg et al 2016a). …”

“…Following specifications by Sundberg et al (2016a), we describe the external morphological characters of the species (including details on the cocoon built by females) and combine this information with phylogenetic data using a nuclear and two mitochondrial markers. Furthermore, we provide molecular distances related to A. riesgoae and A. valida using a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase I -COI-gene and give additional details regarding the haplotype network patterns of the three Antarctonemertes species.…”

“…Sundberg et al 2009;Taboada et al 2013), the latter traditionally considered as the diagnostic characters to differentiate among taxa (Sundberg et al 2016a). However, most of the described nemertean species are known to have inadequate taxonomic descriptions, either lacking or having inadequately documented histological characters and/or lacking proper descriptions of their external features that are commonly lost as a preservation artefact (Gibson 1995).…”