DNA barcode,taxonomic and ecological notes for the identification of the invasive amphipod Monocorophium acherusicum (Costa, 1851) |
| |
| Authors: | Mariano J Albano Carlos Rumbold Ignacio L Chiesa Guadalupe Vazquez Eduardo D Spivak Sandra M Obenat |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET), Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina;2. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| |
| Abstract: | We report the occurrence of the invasive amphipod Monocorophium acherusicum in Mar del Plata port, Argentina, using morphological and molecular analysis and estimated mean abundance to detect monthly variations of this population. We compared M. acherusicum morphology with that of M. insidiosum and Crassicorophium bonelli, the two most similar locally occurring species, to establish the diagnostic characteristics for the correct identification of them; moreover, we provide some taxonomic notes about others corophiids regionally distributed. M. acherusicum were collected in a subtidal biofouling community and its mean abundance was maximum in summer. In the molecular analysis, the maximum-likelihood tree showed that specimens from Mar del Plata were clustered with M. acherusicum specimens from GenBank and Boldsystems. We support and confirm the species identity in Mar del Plata port using DNA barcoding and with taxonomic methods. |
| |
| Keywords: | Molecular analysis corophiids crustaceans non-indigenous species Mar del Plata port Argentina |
|
|
