Quigg Siobhan Marie, Lowe Christopher Nathan, Butt Kevin Richard, Mitcham Timothy, Iyengar Arati
1School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, United Kingdom.
Zootaxa. 2020 Jan 13;4722(2):zootaxa.4722.2.4. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4722.2.4.
Prostoma jenningsi was first recorded at the Clay 'Ole pond in Lancashire, UK, in 1969 and was distinguished histologically from other Prostoma by the presence of 11 proboscidial nerves (with all other Prostoma species thought to have 9-10). P. jenningsi was considered to be the only species endemic to Lancashire and listed in the British Red Data Book as 'Insufficiently Known' as well as a 'Species of Principal Importance' under the UK Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006). A limited number of Prostoma spp were recovered from the Clay 'Ole in 2011 (the first confirmation of the presence of Prostoma spp. since 1999). In 2015, further sampling was undertaken and expanded to other ponds in Lancashire resulting in the discovery of Prostoma spp. at a further 3 locations. Thereafter, DNA sequencing of nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA and mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) genes were undertaken and phylogenetic analyses performed to establish the taxonomic status of recovered specimens. All available Prostoma sequences (Prostoma eilhardi and Prostoma graecense) were downloaded from GenBank® and Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) databases for comparison. All 18S sequences from samples in Lancashire were identical to each other and to all downloaded Prostoma sequences, allowing no further analyses. With COI, 50 individuals were collected from 4 locations across Lancashire and sequenced, comparing a total of 480 base pairs. Average uncorrected p-distances between UK and European samples were low, although some more geographically distant samples from California, USA, displayed higher uncorrected p-distance values. Results suggest that the Prostoma recovered from the Clay 'Ole (and all other sampled locations in Lancashire) are not distinct from P. eilhardi and P. graecense (as downloaded from GenBank® and BOLD) suggesting that there is a strong case for the species status of P. jenningsi to be revoked. Further regional and national sampling is required to obtain a clearer evaluation of the distribution of Prostoma and the levels of genetic diversity present in the UK. In addition, results from this study indicate that thorough taxonomical re-evaluation of species within the Prostoma genus is required.
詹宁斯原口涡虫于1969年首次在英国兰开夏郡的克莱奥池塘被发现，组织学上它与其他原口涡虫的区别在于有11条吻神经（其他所有原口涡虫物种被认为有9 - 10条）。詹宁斯原口涡虫被认为是兰开夏郡特有的唯一物种，被列入英国《红色数据手册》，列为“了解不足”物种，同时根据英国《自然环境与农村社区法案》（2006年）被列为“具有重要意义的物种”。2011年从克莱奥池塘发现了数量有限的原口涡虫属物种（这是自1999年以来首次确认原口涡虫属物种的存在）。2015年，进行了进一步采样，并将范围扩大到兰开夏郡的其他池塘，结果在另外3个地点发现了原口涡虫属物种。此后，对核18S核糖体RNA和线粒体细胞色素氧化酶I（COI）基因进行了DNA测序，并进行了系统发育分析，以确定所采集标本的分类地位。从GenBank®和生命条形码数据系统（BOLD）数据库下载了所有可用的原口涡虫序列（艾氏原口涡虫和希腊原口涡虫）用于比较。兰开夏郡样本的所有18S序列彼此相同，且与所有下载的原口涡虫序列相同，无法进行进一步分析。对于COI基因，从兰开夏郡的4个地点采集了50个个体并进行测序，共比较了480个碱基对。英国和欧洲样本之间的平均未校正p距离较低，不过美国加利福尼亚州一些地理位置较远的样本显示出较高的未校正p距离值。结果表明，从克莱奥池塘（以及兰开夏郡所有其他采样地点）采集的原口涡虫与艾氏原口涡虫和希腊原口涡虫（从GenBank®和BOLD下载）没有区别，这表明有充分理由撤销詹宁斯原口涡虫的物种地位。需要进行进一步的区域和全国采样，以更清楚地评估原口涡虫在英国的分布情况和遗传多样性水平。此外，本研究结果表明需要对原口涡虫属内的物种进行全面的分类学重新评估。
