Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf
ABSTRACT A new species of the genus Microcosmus was described in this study based on specimens collected from the coast of Xilian Town, Xuwen County, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China. The morphological and molecular characteristics of this new species, Microcosmus sp. z YZ‐2024 (YZ‐2024), distin...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70639 |
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| author | Yichuan Zhang Yuting Qin Yueying Wu Liping Liu Wenguang Zhang Ling Ding Xiangpei Ya Zhiting Wen Kuaili Feng Hong Wang Yujun Wang |
| author_facet | Yichuan Zhang Yuting Qin Yueying Wu Liping Liu Wenguang Zhang Ling Ding Xiangpei Ya Zhiting Wen Kuaili Feng Hong Wang Yujun Wang |
| author_sort | Yichuan Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT A new species of the genus Microcosmus was described in this study based on specimens collected from the coast of Xilian Town, Xuwen County, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China. The morphological and molecular characteristics of this new species, Microcosmus sp. z YZ‐2024 (YZ‐2024), distinguish it from other sea squirts. Firstly, YZ‐2024 can be preliminarily distinguished by the following morphological features: (1) smooth surface of the tunica, without protuberances; (2) except for the attachment site, the tunica is orange‐red; (3) absence of neural ganglia, and the tunica does not contract abruptly when disturbed; (4) the heart is oval‐shaped. Most importantly, the mitochondrial genome characteristics of YZ‐2024 effectively and accurately distinguish it from other congeneric species, with a mitochondrial genome size of 14,520 bp (GenBank No. PP067884) and the proportions of bases A, T, G, and C comprising 26.83%, 47.16%, 16.91%, and 9.10%, respectively. Except for the gene COX1, the mitochondrial genome arrangement of YZ‐2024 is totally different from that of 22 other species in the class Ascidiacea. Evolutionary analysis has indicated that YZ‐2024 clusters with its congeneric species Microcosmus sulcatus. Interestingly, YZ‐2024 belongs to Pyuridae, but it clustered with 12 species of Styelidae into a clade. Based on this, it can be suggested that YZ‐2024 is a new species of sea squirt in the northern Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea. Moreover, this study is the first report of molecular identification of sea squirt species in the northern Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-864770d7984e42f5a4fd8a06f6cd820c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-864770d7984e42f5a4fd8a06f6cd820c2025-01-29T05:08:41ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-01-01151n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70639Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu GulfYichuan Zhang0Yuting Qin1Yueying Wu2Liping Liu3Wenguang Zhang4Ling Ding5Xiangpei Ya6Zhiting Wen7Kuaili Feng8Hong Wang9Yujun Wang10Guangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaGuangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Pinglu Canal and Beibu Gulf Coastal Ecosystem Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, Ocean College Beibu Gulf University Qinzhou ChinaInstitute of Sericulture, Applied Technology R and D Center for Special Sericulture of Hebei Province Universities Institute of Sericulture, Chengde Medical University Chengde ChinaABSTRACT A new species of the genus Microcosmus was described in this study based on specimens collected from the coast of Xilian Town, Xuwen County, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China. The morphological and molecular characteristics of this new species, Microcosmus sp. z YZ‐2024 (YZ‐2024), distinguish it from other sea squirts. Firstly, YZ‐2024 can be preliminarily distinguished by the following morphological features: (1) smooth surface of the tunica, without protuberances; (2) except for the attachment site, the tunica is orange‐red; (3) absence of neural ganglia, and the tunica does not contract abruptly when disturbed; (4) the heart is oval‐shaped. Most importantly, the mitochondrial genome characteristics of YZ‐2024 effectively and accurately distinguish it from other congeneric species, with a mitochondrial genome size of 14,520 bp (GenBank No. PP067884) and the proportions of bases A, T, G, and C comprising 26.83%, 47.16%, 16.91%, and 9.10%, respectively. Except for the gene COX1, the mitochondrial genome arrangement of YZ‐2024 is totally different from that of 22 other species in the class Ascidiacea. Evolutionary analysis has indicated that YZ‐2024 clusters with its congeneric species Microcosmus sulcatus. Interestingly, YZ‐2024 belongs to Pyuridae, but it clustered with 12 species of Styelidae into a clade. Based on this, it can be suggested that YZ‐2024 is a new species of sea squirt in the northern Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea. Moreover, this study is the first report of molecular identification of sea squirt species in the northern Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70639mitochondrial genomemorphological characteristicsphylogenetic evolutionsea squirt |
| spellingShingle | Yichuan Zhang Yuting Qin Yueying Wu Liping Liu Wenguang Zhang Ling Ding Xiangpei Ya Zhiting Wen Kuaili Feng Hong Wang Yujun Wang Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf Ecology and Evolution mitochondrial genome morphological characteristics phylogenetic evolution sea squirt |
| title | Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf |
| title_full | Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf |
| title_fullStr | Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf |
| title_short | Morphological Characteristics, Mitochondrial Genome, and Evolutionary Insights Into a New Sea Squirt From the Beibu Gulf |
| title_sort | morphological characteristics mitochondrial genome and evolutionary insights into a new sea squirt from the beibu gulf |
| topic | mitochondrial genome morphological characteristics phylogenetic evolution sea squirt |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70639 |
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