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DNA barcoding and COI sequence variation in Mediterranean lanternfishes larvae

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Abstract

The potential use of Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI)-DNA barcode sequences for the molecular identification of lanternfish larvae from the Sicilian Channel was investigated at two levels: at an interspecific level by confirming species identification based on morphological characters; and at an intraspecific level to test for the presence of geographical variation of COI-DNA sequences. A reference library of COI sequences was constructed starting from unambiguously identified specimens. Neighbor-joining analysis based on K2P genetic distances formed non-overlapping clusters for all species (Myctophum punctatum, Ceratoscopelus maderensis, Hygophum benoiti, Electrona risso and Lobianchia dofleini) with a 100% bootstrap support for each. Additional COI sequences of lanternfishes from Atlantic Ocean and Balearic Sea samples deposited in BOLD system database were included in the dataset. The present analysis allowed the identification of unknown fish larvae and indicated that there is a relative congruence between morphological and molecular identification approaches. Our preliminary data in Myctophidae species confirm that COI gene can be used as an efficient species-specific marker that is also useful for assessing the geographical provenance of larvae. This information will likely be applicable to the investigation of the population structure in these poorly studied species.

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Acknowledgments

V. F. acknowledges the University of Catania and the RITMARE Project (SP2 WP4 AZ2 UO04) for financial support. We would like to thank the ichthyoplankton technicians Carlo Patti and Biagio De Luca from IAMC-CNR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali – Sezione di Biologia Animale “M. La Greca”, Università di Catania, Via Androne 81, 95124, Catania, Italy

    A. M. Pappalardo, A. Sardella & V. Ferrito

  2. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero, UOS Capo Granitola, Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy

    A. Cuttitta, M. Musco, B. Patti & S. Mazzola

  3. Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, sts Palermo, via S. Puglisi 9, 90143, Palermo, Italy

    T. Maggio

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  1. A. M. Pappalardo
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  2. A. Cuttitta
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Correspondence to A. M. Pappalardo.

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Pappalardo, A.M., Cuttitta, A., Sardella, A. et al. DNA barcoding and COI sequence variation in Mediterranean lanternfishes larvae. Hydrobiologia 749, 155–167 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2161-5

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