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Polycladida phylogeny and evolution: integrating evidence from 28S rDNA and morphology

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Abstract

Polyclad flatworms have a troubled classification history, with two contradicting systems in use. They both rely on a ventral adhesive structure to define the suborders Acotylea and Cotylea, but superfamilies were defined according to eyespot arrangement (Prudhoe’s system) or prostatic vesicle characters (Faubel’s system). Molecular data available cover a very limited part of the known polyclad family diversity and have not allowed testing morphology-based classification systems on Polycladida yet. We thus sampled a suitable marker, partial 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), from Polycladida (19 families and 32 genera), generating 136 new sequences and the first comprehensive genetic dataset on polyclads. Our maximum likelihood (ML) analyses recovered Polycladida, but the traditional suborders were not monophyletic, as the supposedly acotyleans Cestoplana and Theama were nested within Cotylea; we suggest that these genera should be included in Cotylea. The partial 28S rDNA trees were generally well supported and robust but in conflict with both Faubel’s and Prudhoe’s superfamilies. Therefore, we compiled morphological and anatomical characters for all taxa used and examined their distribution on our molecular tree. Combining morphological and molecular evidence, we redefined polyclad superfamilies. Acotylea contain tentaculated and atentaculated groups and is now divided in three superfamilies. The suborder Cotylea can be divided in five superfamilies. In general, there is a trait of anteriorization of sensory structures, from the plesiomorphic acotylean body plan to the cotylean gross morphology. Traditionally used characters, such as prostatic vesicle, eyespot distribution, and type of pharynx, are all homoplastic and likely have misled polyclad systematics so far.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to colleagues that helped in the collection and providing material studied here: Prof. Dr. Juan Lucas Cervera and MSc. Patricia Perez (Universidad de Cádiz, Spain), Ariane Dimitris (USA), Prof. Dr. Peter Wirtz, Dr. Judith Brown, Dr. Yuri Deart, Dr. Bastian Brenzinger, Prof. Dr. Fernanda Cavalcanti, and Prof. Dr. Emilio Lanna (Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil). Our thanks extend to Arnaldo Campos Perez (Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Dr. Isabel Berning (ZSM, Germany) for the help in the laboratory work and MSc. Isabella Stöger for both the laboratory and analysis help. We thank Prof. Dr. Ulf Jondelius (Swedish Natural History Museum) and the SYNTHESIS program for the access to the Polycladida collection of the SNHM. We also thank an anonymous referee and the Editor Prof. Dr. Andreas Wanninger for their helpful critic and comments. The first and second authors are CNPq (Brazil) and DAAD (Germany) fellowship holders. Lab work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; to MS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Münchhausenstrasse 21, 81247, Munich, Germany

    Juliana Bahia & Michael Schrödl

  2. GeoBioCenter LMU and Biozentrum of the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Juliana Bahia & Michael Schrödl

  3. Department of Marine Biotecnology, Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira (IEAPM), Arraial do Cabo, Brazil

    Vinicius Padula

Authors
  1. Juliana Bahia
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  2. Vinicius Padula
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  3. Michael Schrödl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juliana Bahia.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary Figure 1

Polycladida 28S rDNA phylogram (RAxML, numbers refer to bootstrap support values). (JPEG 684 kb)

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Supplementary Figure 2

Acotylea 28S rDNA phylogram (RAxML, numbers refer to bootstrap support values). (JPEG 520 kb)

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Supplementary Figure 3

Cotylea 28S rDNA phylogram (RAxML, numbers refer to bootstrap support values). (JPEG 862 kb)

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Bahia, J., Padula, V. & Schrödl, M. Polycladida phylogeny and evolution: integrating evidence from 28S rDNA and morphology. Org Divers Evol 17, 653–678 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-017-0327-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-017-0327-5

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