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When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice

Current taxonomy offers numerous approaches and methods for species delimitation and description. However, most of them are based on the adult characters and rarely suggest a dynamic representation of developmental transformations of taxonomically important features. Here we show how the underestima...

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Autores principales: Martynov, Alexander, Ishida, Yoshiaki, Irimura, Seiichi, Tajiri, Rie, O’Hara, Timothy, Fujita, Toshihiko
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625035/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26509273
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139463
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author Martynov, Alexander
Ishida, Yoshiaki
Irimura, Seiichi
Tajiri, Rie
O’Hara, Timothy
Fujita, Toshihiko
author_facet Martynov, Alexander
Ishida, Yoshiaki
Irimura, Seiichi
Tajiri, Rie
O’Hara, Timothy
Fujita, Toshihiko
author_sort Martynov, Alexander
collection PubMed
description Current taxonomy offers numerous approaches and methods for species delimitation and description. However, most of them are based on the adult characters and rarely suggest a dynamic representation of developmental transformations of taxonomically important features. Here we show how the underestimation of ontogenetic changes may result in long term lack of recognition of a new species of one of the most common ophiacanthid brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the North Pacific. Based on vast material collected predominantly by various Japanese expeditions in the course of more than 50 years, and thorough study of appropriate type material, we revise the complex of three common species of the ophiuroid genus Ophiacantha which have been persistently confused with each other. The present study thus reveals the previously unrecognized new species Ophiacantha kokusai sp.nov. which is commonly distributed off the Pacific coast of Japan. The new species shows developmental differentiation from the closely related species Ophiacantha rhachophora H. L. Clark, 1911 and retains clearly expressed early juvenile features in the adult morphology. Another species, Ophiacantha clypeata Kyte, 1977, which had been separated from O. rhachophora, is in turn shown to be just a juvenile stage of another North Pacific species, Ophiacantha trachybactra H.L. Clark, 1911. For every species, detailed morphological data from both adult and juvenile specimens based on scanning electron microscopy are presented. A special grinding method showing complex internal features has been utilized for the first time. For all three species in this complex, a clear bathymetric differentiation is revealed: O. rhachophora predominantly inhabits shallow waters, 0–250 m, the new species O. kokusai lives deeper, at 250–600 m, and the third species, O. trachybactra, is found at 500–2,000 m. The present case clearly highlights the importance of considering developmental transformations, not only for a limited number of model organisms, but as part of the taxonomic process.
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spelling pubmed-46250352015-11-06 When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice Martynov, Alexander Ishida, Yoshiaki Irimura, Seiichi Tajiri, Rie O’Hara, Timothy Fujita, Toshihiko PLoS One Research Article Current taxonomy offers numerous approaches and methods for species delimitation and description. However, most of them are based on the adult characters and rarely suggest a dynamic representation of developmental transformations of taxonomically important features. Here we show how the underestimation of ontogenetic changes may result in long term lack of recognition of a new species of one of the most common ophiacanthid brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the North Pacific. Based on vast material collected predominantly by various Japanese expeditions in the course of more than 50 years, and thorough study of appropriate type material, we revise the complex of three common species of the ophiuroid genus Ophiacantha which have been persistently confused with each other. The present study thus reveals the previously unrecognized new species Ophiacantha kokusai sp.nov. which is commonly distributed off the Pacific coast of Japan. The new species shows developmental differentiation from the closely related species Ophiacantha rhachophora H. L. Clark, 1911 and retains clearly expressed early juvenile features in the adult morphology. Another species, Ophiacantha clypeata Kyte, 1977, which had been separated from O. rhachophora, is in turn shown to be just a juvenile stage of another North Pacific species, Ophiacantha trachybactra H.L. Clark, 1911. For every species, detailed morphological data from both adult and juvenile specimens based on scanning electron microscopy are presented. A special grinding method showing complex internal features has been utilized for the first time. For all three species in this complex, a clear bathymetric differentiation is revealed: O. rhachophora predominantly inhabits shallow waters, 0–250 m, the new species O. kokusai lives deeper, at 250–600 m, and the third species, O. trachybactra, is found at 500–2,000 m. The present case clearly highlights the importance of considering developmental transformations, not only for a limited number of model organisms, but as part of the taxonomic process. Public Library of Science 2015-10-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4625035/ /pubmed/26509273 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139463 Text en © 2015 Martynov et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Martynov, Alexander
Ishida, Yoshiaki
Irimura, Seiichi
Tajiri, Rie
O’Hara, Timothy
Fujita, Toshihiko
When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title_full When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title_fullStr When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title_full_unstemmed When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title_short When Ontogeny Matters: A New Japanese Species of Brittle Star Illustrates the Importance of Considering both Adult and Juvenile Characters in Taxonomic Practice
title_sort when ontogeny matters: a new japanese species of brittle star illustrates the importance of considering both adult and juvenile characters in taxonomic practice
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625035/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26509273
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139463
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