Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific
As close relatives of the vertebrates, cephalochordates have been the focus of significant evo–devo and genomic research; however, their biodiversity and systematics remain poorly known. In particular, few species have been documented in the eastern Pacific and there are few published observations f...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Diversity |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/6/411 |
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| author | Maycol Ezequiel Madrid Concepcion Kenneth S. Macdonald Amy C. Driskell Regina Wetzer Maikon Di Domenico Rachel Collin |
| author_facet | Maycol Ezequiel Madrid Concepcion Kenneth S. Macdonald Amy C. Driskell Regina Wetzer Maikon Di Domenico Rachel Collin |
| author_sort | Maycol Ezequiel Madrid Concepcion |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As close relatives of the vertebrates, cephalochordates have been the focus of significant evo–devo and genomic research; however, their biodiversity and systematics remain poorly known. In particular, few species have been documented in the eastern Pacific and there are few published observations for this region. Using sequences from COI and 16S DNA barcode markers and morphological observations from 16 animals collected incidentally during other studies, we document the presence of three species of amphioxus on the Pacific coast and one from the Caribbean coast of Panama. The high genetic diversity recovered from so few samples suggests that the application of molecular taxonomy to neotropical amphioxus would likely uncover additional species and could help to more easily delineate morphological differences among taxa. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1fe90cf165584232acd00ac94fdf9abc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj-art-1fe90cf165584232acd00ac94fdf9abc2025-08-20T03:27:14ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182025-06-0117641110.3390/d17060411Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern PacificMaycol Ezequiel Madrid Concepcion0Kenneth S. Macdonald1Amy C. Driskell2Regina Wetzer3Maikon Di Domenico4Rachel Collin5NAOS Marine and Molecular Laboratories, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón 0843-03092, PanamaLaboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USALaboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USAMarine Biodiversity Center, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USACenter for Marine Studies (CEM), Universidade Federal do Paraná, (UFPR), Pontal do Paraná 83255-976, PR, BrazilNAOS Marine and Molecular Laboratories, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón 0843-03092, PanamaAs close relatives of the vertebrates, cephalochordates have been the focus of significant evo–devo and genomic research; however, their biodiversity and systematics remain poorly known. In particular, few species have been documented in the eastern Pacific and there are few published observations for this region. Using sequences from COI and 16S DNA barcode markers and morphological observations from 16 animals collected incidentally during other studies, we document the presence of three species of amphioxus on the Pacific coast and one from the Caribbean coast of Panama. The high genetic diversity recovered from so few samples suggests that the application of molecular taxonomy to neotropical amphioxus would likely uncover additional species and could help to more easily delineate morphological differences among taxa.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/6/411CephalochordataamphioxusPanamaDNA barcodingtropical biodiversitymarine invertebrate larvae |
| spellingShingle | Maycol Ezequiel Madrid Concepcion Kenneth S. Macdonald Amy C. Driskell Regina Wetzer Maikon Di Domenico Rachel Collin Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific Diversity Cephalochordata amphioxus Panama DNA barcoding tropical biodiversity marine invertebrate larvae |
| title | Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific |
| title_full | Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific |
| title_fullStr | Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific |
| title_short | Lots of Lancelets or Not? Diversity of Cephalochordates in the Tropical Eastern Pacific |
| title_sort | lots of lancelets or not diversity of cephalochordates in the tropical eastern pacific |
| topic | Cephalochordata amphioxus Panama DNA barcoding tropical biodiversity marine invertebrate larvae |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/6/411 |
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