Checklist of freshwater symbiotic temnocephalans (Platyhelminthes, Rhabditophora, Temnocephalida) from the Neotropics

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Abstract

Based on published records and original data derived from our research, we have generated a checklist of symbiotic temnocephalan fauna from 57 taxa of freshwater invertebrate and vertebrate hosts from 16 families included in four classes from the Neotropics. The checklist contains 38 nominal species from 3 genera belonging to the Temnocephalida families Diceratocephalidae, Didymorchidae and Temnocephalidae. All taxa (35) of the genus Temnocephala are endemic to the Neotropics and 14 (40%) are considered microendemic (i.e. only one record each from a single locality). While only one species and one variety of Didymorchis are known from the Neotropics; there are also two putative undescribed species of this genus. Only Diceratocephala boschmai (Diceratocephalidae) is reported as an introduced species from Uruguay. Host specificity to a particular group of invertebrates and vertebrates is the first evidence for the ecological and evolutionary associations that will be analyzed in future studies.

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Integrative taxonomy: a multisource approach to exploring biodiversity.

Birgit C Schlick-Steiner, Florian M Steiner, Bernhard Seifert … (2010)

Good alpha taxonomy is central to biology. On the basis of a survey of arthropod studies that used multiple disciplines for species delimitation, we evaluated the performance of single disciplines. All included disciplines had a considerable failure rate. Rigor in species delimitation can thus be increased when several disciplines chosen for complementarity are used. We present a flexible procedure and stopping rule for integrative taxonomy that uses the information from different disciplines separately. Disagreement among disciplines over the number and demarcation of species is resolved by elucidating and invoking evolutionary explanations for disagreement. With the identification of further promising study organisms and of new questions for in-depth analysis, evolutionary biology should profit from integrative taxonomy. An important rationale is clarity in researcher bias in the decision-making process. The success of integrative taxonomy will further increase through methodological progress, taxonomic training of evolutionary biologists, and balanced resource allocation.