Conference Agenda
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Daily Overview |
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CP6.1: Wildlife 1: Fish, Snakes & Turtles 10 min talks Location: Lecture Theatre 3 Session Chair: Nathan Bott, RMIT University Session Chair: Amanda Ash, Murdoch University | |
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Unexpected relatives: an integrated taxonomic approach unites species separated by half a century of confusion 1: Murdoch University, Australia; 2: University of Sri Jayewaradanepura Plagioporus and Podocotyle are historically the largest, most problematic and among the oldest genera in the Opecoelidae, the richest family of the Trematoda. Both genera were defined by combinations of generalised characters prone to homoplasy. Nevertheless, the two concepts have always been considered mutually exclusive. Through an integrated approach, we present a close phylogenetic relationship, clearly congeneric, between a nominal species of each genus. We recollected the two nominal species from known hosts near to their type-localities, Podocotyle parupenei from goatfishes (Mullidae) on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia (type locality: Fiji) and Plagioporus jagannathi from threadfinbream (Nemipteridae) in Sri Lanka (type locality: India). Podocotyle is currently recognised in the subfamily Podocotylinae, but Podocotyle parupenei has since been recombined as Podocotyloides parupenei in the Hamacreadiinae. Likewise, Plagioporus currently belongs to the Sphaerostomatinae, but Plagioporus jagannathi was recombined as Macvicaria jagannathi in the Opistholebetinae. Our analysis revealed that two species are distinct, but closely related, andbelong to none of Plagioporus, Podocotyle, Macvicaria, or Podocotyloides, but instead resolve within a fifth subfamily, the Decemtestinae. We have proposed and delineated a new genus to accommodate these taxa, exemplifying how homoplasy has long obscured true relationships and how intergrated taxonomy can cut through. | |