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Comparison of morphological and molecular traits for species identification and taxonomic grouping of oncaeid copepods

  • COPEPODA: BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
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Abstract

The pelagic marine copepod family Oncaeidae is highly diversified (over 100 species worldwide) and includes a great number of sibling species, which are difficult to identify morphologically, because of their very small size (0.18–1.2 mm total length as adults). Global investigations of oncaeid biodiversity are severely hampered by insufficient taxonomic knowledge, in particular for species which have first been described from the European Mediterranean Sea (type locality). Many of these species have been reported as key taxa of small-sized copepod communities in very distant oceanic regions. However, due to the taxonomic uncertainties it cannot be excluded that at least some of these allegedly cosmopolitan species in reality represent a complex of distinct, yet closely related, species. To improve the basis for the identification of Oncaeidae of Mediterranean origin, new diagnostic characters in combination with traditional methods were applied in the present study. Copepods were sampled with fine nets of 0.1 mm mesh size down to a maximum depth of 1,000 m on a west-east-transect in the Mediterranean Sea. Oncaeid species and form variants were predefined morphologically and the genetic identity of the morphospecies was analysed by about 650 and 500 bp region of the mitochondrial COI and 12S srRNA gene sequence, respectively (barcoding). A total of 67 individuals from 24 oncaeid species and forms were successfully analysed, including 12 species and one form of Mediterranean origin. For Oncaeidae, the 12S amplification turned out to be more successful (23 species) than the COI amplification (13 species and 1 form). Together, the morphological and molecular results are discussed with respect to three topics: (1) confirmation of a genetic distinction of three Triconia species, which have been interpreted as sibling species by morphological characters, (2) genetic distance of species within the ovalis-complex of oncaeids and (3) the taxonomic status of two form variants of Oncaea mediterranea (Claus).

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank D. Elvers (University of Bremen) for collecting the fine mesh net plankton samples during RV ′Meteor` cruise 51/2. Thanks are due to Prof. K. Lochte (formerly IFM-GEOMAR, now AWI, Bremerhaven) and Prof. U. Riebesell (IFM-GEOMAR) for providing excellent working conditions to R.B.S. Special thanks are given to Prof. D. Schnack for commenting on the manuscript and to Elisabeth Samusch for personal support to R.B.S. This study was supported by a research grant from the German Science Foundation to R.B.S (Schn 455/4-1). The funding of travel expenses to the 10th ICOC in Thailand by the German Science Foundation (Schn 455/5-1) is gratefully acknowledged. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Additional support for this project was provided to R. J. M. by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 20241003 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. Data Integration & Analysis System from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan provided funding to R. J. M. This study is a contribution from the Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ), an ocean realm field project of the Census of Marine Life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz-Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), Biological Oceanography (FB2), Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Ruth Böttger-Schnack

  2. Invertebrate Zoology, MRC 163, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, 20560, USA

    Ryuji J. Machida

  3. Moorsehdener Weg 8, 24211, Rastorf-Rosenfeld, Germany

    Ruth Böttger-Schnack

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  1. Ruth Böttger-Schnack
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Correspondence to Ruth Böttger-Schnack.

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Guest editors: L. Sanoamuang & J. S. Hwang / Copepoda: Biology and Ecology

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Böttger-Schnack, R., Machida, R.J. Comparison of morphological and molecular traits for species identification and taxonomic grouping of oncaeid copepods. Hydrobiologia 666, 111–125 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0094-1

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