Molecular phylogeny of the nutmeg shells (Neogastropoda, Cancellariidae)

• Published in: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution Vol. 59; no. 3; pp. 685 - 697
• Main Authors: Modica, Maria Vittoria, Bouchet, Philippe, Cruaud, Corinne, Utge, José, Oliverio, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: 12S; 16S; Anatomy; Animals; Bayes Theorem; Bayesian analysis; Bayesian theory; Biomedical materials; body fluids; Cancellariidae; COI; data collection; DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics; ecology; egg masses; Evolution; Gastropoda; Gastropoda - classification; Gastropoda - genetics; Genes; Life Sciences; Likelihood Functions; Marine; Maximum Likelihood; Merica; monophyly; morphospecies; Neogastropoda; Nutmeg; Phylogeny; polyphyly; probability analysis; Robinson–Foulds supertree; Shells; Surgical implants; 12S; Neogastropoda; Robinson–Foulds supertree; Cancellariidae; Phylogeny; COI; Maximum Likelihood; Bayesian analysis; 16S
• ISSN: 1055-7903; 1095-9513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.03.022

[Display omitted] ► Cancellariidae are crucial to understand the early radiation of Neogastropoda. ► The first multigene mtDNA molecular phylogeny of the Cancellariidae is provided. ► Molecular phylogeny recognizes four major lineages in the cancellariid radiation. ► Molecular results contradicts the taxonomic extension of some genera. ► Traditional shell characters are probably highly homoplastic in Cancellariidae. Cancellariidae, or nutmeg shells, is a family of marine gastropods that feed on the body fluids and the egg cases of marine animals. The 300 or so living species are distributed worldwide, mostly on soft bottoms, from intertidal to depths of about 1000m. Although they are a key group for the understanding of neogastropod evolution, they are still poorly known in terms of anatomy, ecology and systematics. This paper reports the first mitochondrial multi-gene phylogenetic hypothesis for the group. Data were collected for 50 morphospecies, representative of 22 genera belonging to the three currently recognized subfamilies. Sequences from three genes (12S, 16S and COI) were analyzed with Maximum Likelihood analysis and Bayesian Inference, both as single gene datasets and in two partitioned concatenated alignment. Largely consistent topologies were obtained and discussed with respect to the traditional subfamilial arrangements. The obtained phylogenetic trees were also used to produce Robinson–Foulds supertrees. Our results confirmed the monophyly of the subfamily Plesiotritoninae, while Admetinae and Cancellariinae, as currently conceived, were retrieved as polyphyletic. Based on our findings we propose changes to the systematic arrangement of these subfamilies. At a lower taxonomic rank, our results highlighted the rampant homoplasy of many characters traditionally used to segregate genera, and thus the need of a critical re-evaluation of the contents of many genera (e.g. Nipponaphera, Merica, Sydaphera, Bivetia), the monophyly of which was not recovered.