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Pepato AR, Dos S Costa SG, Harvey MS, Klimov PB. One-way ticket to the blue: A large-scale, dated phylogeny revealed asymmetric land-to-water transitions in acariform mites (Acari: Acariformes). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2022; 177:107626. [PMID: 36096463 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Acariform mites are an ancient and megadiverse lineage that may have experienced a complex pattern of invasions into terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These among-realm transitions may relate to periods of turmoil in Earth's history or be simply results of uneven biodiversity patterns across habitats. Here, we inferred a dated, representative acariform phylogeny (five genes, 9,200 bp aligned, 367 terminals belonging to 150 ingroup plus 15 outgroup families, 23 fossil calibration points) which was used to infer transitions between marine/freshwater/terrestrial habitats. We detected four unambiguous transitions from terrestrial to freshwater habitats (Hydrozetes, Naiadacarus, Fusohericia, Afronothrus, Homocaligus); one from freshwater to marine (Pontarachnidae), and four from marine to brackish or freshwater transitions (all among Halacaridae: Acarothrix; Halacarellus petiti; Copidognathus sp.; clade Limnohalacarus + Soldanellonyx + Porohalacarus + Porolohmannella). One transition to the sea was inferred ambiguously with respect to the ancestor being either terrestrial or freshwater (Hyadesiidae), and another must be most carefully examined by adding potential related taxa (Selenoribatidae + Fortuyniidae). Finally, we inferred a single, remarkable transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitats involving early evolution of the large and ecologically diverse lineage: the ancestor of the Halacaridae + Parasitengona clade was probably freshwater given our dataset, thus making terrestrial Parasitengona secondarily terrestrial. Overall, our results suggested a strong asymmetry in environmental transitions: the majority occurred from terrestrial to aquatic habitats. This asymmetry is probably linked to mites' biological properties and uneven biodiversity patterns across habitats rather than Earth's geological history. Since the land holds more acariform diversity than water habitats, a shift from the former is more likely than from the latter. We inferred the following relationships: alicid endeostigmatid + eriophyoid (Alycidae, (Nanorchestidae, (Nematalycidae, Eriophyoidea))) being sister group to the remaining Acariformes: (proteonematalycid Endeostigmata, alicorhagiid Endeostigmata, Trombidiformes, Oribatida (including Astigmata)). Trombidiform relationships had several novel rearrangements: (i) traditional Eupodina lacked support for the inclusion of Bdelloidea; (ii) Teneriffidae, traditionally placed among Anystina, was consistently recovered in a clade including Heterostigmata in Eleutherengona; (iii) several lineages, such as Adamystidae, Paratydeidae, Caeculidae and Erythracaridae, were recovered in a large clade along other Anystina and Eleutherengona, suggesting single origins of several fundamental character states, such as the reduction of the cheliceral fixed digit and development of the palpal thumb-claw complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Almir R Pepato
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Laboratório de Sistemática e Evolução de Ácaros Acariformes, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte - MG ZIP: 31270-901, Brazil; Tyumen State University, X-BIO Institute, 10 Semakova Str., 625003 Tyumen, Russia.
| | - Samuel G Dos S Costa
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Laboratório de Sistemática e Evolução de Ácaros Acariformes, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte - MG ZIP: 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Mark S Harvey
- Collections & Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Western Australia 6106, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Pavel B Klimov
- Purdue University, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences, G-226, 915 W State St, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States; Tyumen State University, X-BIO Institute, 10 Semakova Str., 625003 Tyumen, Russia
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Lienhard A, Krisper G. Hidden biodiversity in microarthropods (Acari, Oribatida, Eremaeoidea, Caleremaeus). Sci Rep 2021; 11:23123. [PMID: 34848782 PMCID: PMC8632897 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02602-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A challenge for taxonomists all over the world and across all taxonomic groups is recognizing and delimiting species, and cryptic species are even more challenging. However, an accurate identification is fundamental for all biological studies from ecology to conversation biology. We used a multidisciplinary approach including genetics as well as morphological and ecological data to assess if an easily recognizable, widely distributed and euryoecious mite taxon represents one and the same species. According to phylogenetic (based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes) and species delimitation analyses, five distinct putative species were detected and supported by high genetic distances. These genetic lineages correlate well with ecological data, and each species could be associated to its own (micro)habitat. Subsequently, slight morphological differences were found and provide additional evidence that five different species occur in Central and Southern Europe. The minuteness and the characteristic habitus of Caleremaeus monilipes tempted to neglect potential higher species diversity. This problem might concern several other "well-known" euryoecious microarthropods. Five new species of the genus Caleremaeus are described, namely Caleremaeus mentobellus sp. nov., C. lignophilus sp. nov., C. alpinus sp. nov., C. elevatus sp. nov., and C. hispanicus sp. nov. Additionally, a morphological evaluation of C. monilipes is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Lienhard
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
| | - Günther Krisper
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
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