How to translate text using browser tools
1 August 2012 Taxonomic Study of the Burmoniscus ocellatus Complex (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Japan Shows Genetic Diversification in the Southern Ryukyus, Southwestern Japan
Shigenori Karasawa, Masanao Honda
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

To clarify the taxonomic status of the Burmoniscus ocellatus complex in Japan, we carried out morphological observations and phylogenetic analyses of specimens collected from Yonagunijima, Iriomotejima, Ishigakijima, and Miyakojima Islands of the southern Ryukyus and from Okinawajima Island of the central Ryukyus in southwestern Japan. Observations of the holotypes of Aphiloscia iriomotensis (Nunomura, 1986), Ap. ishigakiensis (Nunomura, 1986), and Ap. yonakuniensis (Nunomura, 1986), in addition to the specimens newly collected from the five islands, indicated that these specimens belong to the genus Burmoniscus. Analyses of five morphological characters of 268 specimens collected from the five islands showed that the body size of Okinawajima specimens is distinctly smaller than those of the specimens from the southern Ryukyus. The ranges of the five morphological characters tended to overlap among the specimens from Yonagunijima, Iriomotejima, Ishigakijima and Miyakojima Islands; these morphological characters were congruent with those of 6. ocellatus (Verhoeff, 1928). The phylogenetic analyses were based on three regions of mitochondrial DNA—COI, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA—and indicated that the specimens collected from the southern Ryukyus constitute a monophyletic group, which is clearly distinct from the clade composed of the Okinawajima specimens. These results strongly suggest that Ap. iriomotensis, Ap. ishigakiensis, and Ap. yonakuniensis are synonymous with B. ocellatus, a species widely distributed in the southern Ryukyus. On the other hand, the species from Okinawajima Island in the central Ryukyus is considered to be an undescribed Burmoniscus species, which is closely related to but clearly distinct from S. ocellatus.

© 2012 Zoological Society of Japan
Shigenori Karasawa and Masanao Honda "Taxonomic Study of the Burmoniscus ocellatus Complex (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Japan Shows Genetic Diversification in the Southern Ryukyus, Southwestern Japan," Zoological Science 29(8), 527-537, (1 August 2012). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.29.527
Received: 22 November 2011; Accepted: 1 March 2012; Published: 1 August 2012
KEYWORDS
12S rRNA
16S rRNA
Anchiphiloscia
Aphiloscia
Burmoniscus
COI
divergence time estimate
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top