![For Palaemon adspersus : A) Haplotype network - grey and white shades correspond to the clades in Fig. 5B. B) Section of BOLD tree focusing on Palaemon adserpsus , showing the two intraspecific clades in grey and white. C) Clade distribution map – grey and white circles correspond to the distribution of the grey and white clades, respectively in the corresponding BOLD tree and the haplotype network. The black square designates data retrieved from BOLD.- For Crangon crangon : D) Haplotype network - grey and white shades correspond to the clades in Fig. 5E. E) Section of BOLD trees focusing on Crangon crangon , showing the two intraspecific clades in grey and white. F) Clade distribution map – grey and white circles correspond to the distribution of the grey and white clades, respectively, with the pie-chart showing the relative distribution of each clade in Turkey. The triangles indicate the distribution of the other clade [composed of individuals coded Crangon crangon BNSC148-10 (the BOLD process-ids) and Crangon crangon BNSC152-10 in Fig. 5E.]](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Selahattin-Karhan/publication/274192325/figure/fig3/AS:294801934176267@1447297666917/For-Palaemon-adspersus-A-Haplotype-network-grey-and-white-shades-correspond-to-the_Q320.jpg)
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DNA barcoding of twelve shrimp species (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Turkish seas reveals cryptic diversity
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DNA barcoding is a useful tool for the identification and potential discovery of new species. In this study, DNA barcoding was employed by sequencing the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) to characterize the genetic diversity of 12 shrimp species inhabiting Turkish coastal waters and, when possible, to compare with the genetic data available from different parts of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. This study also comprises the first DNA barcoding study performed in the Turkish Seas using COI. A total of 40 shrimp specimens were collected and analyzed from 9 sites. Generally, the barcoding gap criterion was successful in identifying species; hence, COI appeared to be a good marker of choice for DNA barcoding in this group. Out of the 12 species investigated, five were barcoded for the first time. For six species, two intraspecific clades were retrieved after the analyses. The results suggest the presence of cryptic diversity in a genetically understudied marine area, the Turkish coastal waters, and further investigation of these species using population genetics, taxonomic approaches and nuclear markers is likely to result in designation of new species.
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... successful in the amplification of CO1 gene, which helped in the identification of invertebrate species such as Echinodermata, Mollusca, Annelida, Pogonophora, Arthropoda, Nemertinea, Echiura, Sipuncula, Platyhelminthes, Tardigrada and Coelenterata [3][4][5]. Additionally, the primers also have been successful in species identification of shrimps and prawns [6][7][8][9]. Miri is a coastal city in the northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia, sharing the border with Brunei. The city is situated on the alluvial plain of the Miri River which then flows to the South China Sea. ...
... The phylogenetic trees in this study indicated that CO1 gene is a good marker for the study of the geographical distribution of Acetes shrimp. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of CO1 gene marker in identification of shrimps and prawns [6,8,9]. Bilgin et al. [6] revealed 12 different species of shrimps in Turkish seas using CO1 gene with the addition of a single cryptic species. ...
... Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of CO1 gene marker in identification of shrimps and prawns [6,8,9]. Bilgin et al. [6] revealed 12 different species of shrimps in Turkish seas using CO1 gene with the addition of a single cryptic species. Wong et al. [9] successfully revealed four different species of Acetes along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia based on CO1 gene information. ...
... For instance, over-exploitation of commercially valued species, habitat change, loss and degradation (Wilson et al., 2008), eutrophication and hypoxic events (Vaquer-Sunyer & Duarte, 2008), introduction of nonindigenous species (Gollasch, 2006), rising sea surface temperature, increase in UV exposition and ocean acidification (Halpern et al., 2008) are threatening marine ecosystems and diversity, triggering their decline. Recording the current state of biological diversity is thus of primary importance to better understand how species diversity loss can be induced by human impact (Bilgin et al., 2015) since biodiversity has an important value as an indicator of environmental quality and ecosystem functioning (Bianchi & Morri, 2000). ...
... The same applies to the Eualus species, whose specimens are morphologically very similar, which makes their taxonomic distinction extremely challenging (D'Udekem-d'Acoz & Wirtz, 2002). DNA barcoding of COI has proved to be an informative molecular marker to describe new species of Eualus (Nye et al., 2013), as well as to reveal the presence of two Eualus cranchii phylogeographic clades/haplogroups, suggesting the presence of cryptic species and/ or genetic isolation of populations within species (Bilgin et al., 2015). ...
... Nevertheless, two of the specimens sharing haplotype II were unambiguously morphologically identified as two distinct species (E. cranchii and E. pusiolus), raising the possibility that the COI is not a good genetic marker to distinguish between these two species, even if several previous studies had confirmed the appropriateness of the COI gene to distinguish between cryptic and non-cryptic Eualus species (Silva et al., 2011;Nye et al., 2013;Bilgin et al., 2015;Vassily et al., 2017). Indeed, COI barcodes may offer only a fraction of the information needed to characterize species and may not be representative of the whole genome (Rubinoff, 2006). ...
Correct species identification and description are fundamental to understand health status of marine ecosystems. The use of a single identification tool for species distinction can lead to species misidentifications, having major consequences on ecological studies. Here, we used an integrative taxonomic approach to identify benthic decapods belonging to the genera Galathea Fabricius, 1793 and Eualus Thallwitz, 1891, collected in the Mediterranean Sea. 23 Galathea and 22 Eualus individuals were morphologically analysed and sequenced at the mitochondrial COI gene to confirm their identity using BOLD Identification Engine. Morphological identification revealed the presence of two Galathea and three Eualus species, while species delimitation based on DNA barcoding of COI sequences strongly suggested the presence of three Galathea and four Eualus species. Molecular analyses suggested the potential presence of two still undescribed species: one cryptic to Galathea squamifera and one cryptic to Galathea intermedia. Contrasting results obtained by morphological identification and BOLD Identification Engine impeded the recognition of Eualus specimens and suggested misidentifications among BOLD reference records of Eualus cranchii, Eualus occultus and Eualus pusiolus. These results demonstrated that morphological identification overlooks cryptic species and that misidentifications may occur, highlighting the importance of using an integrative approach to increase the current taxonomic knowledge of benthic invertebrates.
... Thus, the same crustacean species at different larval stages may be erroneously identified as a different species when depending on morphological characteristics; conversely, different species at the same larval stage can have similar morphological features (Ko et al., 2013). Furthermore, identifications and classifications based on morphological characteristics can be difficult and timeconsuming; though species identifications generally require considerable taxonomic knowledge, even the same specimen can be identified inconsistently among taxonomists (Bilgin et al., 2014). Therefore, diagnoses of crustacean larvae are problematic and challenging given the generally small amount of morphological characteristics available, especially in the context of a species' rapid development from larval to juvenile stages. ...
... In the decades since a DNA barcoding system for specimen identifications was established, numerous studies have proven that this technique is effective for identifying species (Hajibabaei et al., 2006;Ward et al., 2009;Radulovici et al., 2010). DNA barcoding has now been successfully applied in insects (Janzen et al., 2005;Smith et al., 2005), crustaceans (Costa et al., 2007;Bilgin et al., 2014;Bucklin et al., 2022), fish (Ward et al., 2005;Hubert et al., 2008;Ghouri et al., 2020;Guimarães-Costa et al., 2020;Xu et al., 2021), birds (Hebert et al., 2004), and mammals (Lorenz et al., 2005;Clare et al., 2007). These achievements have benefited from the establishment of the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDSystems), which is a global public standard dataset platform with general technical rules and identification systems for animal taxonomy. ...
Marine crustaceans are known as a group with high morphological diversity and great economic value. Most species have planktonic larval stages that are difficult to identify to species level using traditional approaches because of insufficient morphological diagnostic characters or taxonomic descriptions. We used DNA barcoding and molecular species identification to investigate the species diversity and distribution of crustacean larvae in the Zhongsha Islands waters, South China Sea. In total, 108 sequences were obtained from crustacean larvae collected in the Zhongsha Islands waters in 2019 using vertical hauls between the depths of 5 and 200 m. The molecular classification approach confirmed that 108 sequences represented crustaceans typical to the South China Sea, with 70 species identified, representing 43 genera, 23 families, and 4 orders. However, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences of only 27 species identified from the larval samples matched with available sequences taken from adults in GenBank. The comparison of K2P distances yielded a notable gap of 3.5–10.7% between intraspecific and interspecific distances across the sequence dataset. More than 80% of the crustacean larvae species belonged to the order Decapoda, and they displayed marked differences in their distributionsin the Zhongshan Islands waters. The orders Calanoida and Amphipoda were represented by the fewest species, which were recorded only at the edge of the Zhongsha Atoll.
... Species identification using morphological approaches requires high degree of experienced specialist and becomes impractical for those interested to simply study the diversity of organism (Bilgin et al., 2015, Hebert et al., 2003Radulovici et al., 2010). Hebert et al. (2003) proposed the use of Mt-DNA COI as part of the DNA barcoding framework as a standard to identify species, define species boundaries and aid in species delimitation. ...
... More than four hundred DNA barcoding papers have been published since 2003 (Taylor and Harris, 2012). Previous research to determine species using mt-DNA COI have been carried out such as in cephalopods (Carlini and Graves, 1999;Hwang et al., 2016), decapods (da Silva et al., 2011;Bilgin et al., 2015;Kholilah et al., 2018), copepods (Bucklin et al., 1999;Baek et al., 2016;Francis et al., 2018), fish (Madduppa et al., 2016;Zeng et al., 2017), giant clam (Findra et al., 2017) and for unknown species; in particular trace amounts of tissues can be used as samples (Galal-Khallaf et al., 2016). In this study, phylogenetic analysis of mt-DNA COI is used to determine the species of octopus. ...
As per the FAO data, octopus identification is very limited in the species level at world fishery and also they are cryptic nature. On the other hand, Indonesia is one of the top ten highest octopus exporters. This study therefore aimed to determine the species of octopus based on phylogenetic analysis of mt-DNA COI. Octopuses were collected from nine different locations throughout Indonesia, i.e., Anambas, Bangka-Belitung, Cirebon, Karimunjawa, Tuban, Lombok, Buton, Wakatobi and Jayapura. Samples were mostly in the form of tentacles that were directly collected from fishermen. After being preserved in 96% ethanol, the sample was extracted in 10% chelex, PCR amplification using Folmer's primer then was further analysed by sequencing in Sanger methods. Of the 24 samples sequenced, the results recognized four species Octopodidae belongs to the three genera, named Amphioctopus aegina, Hapalochlaena fasciata, Octopus laqueus and Octopus cyanea. Mean pair-wise distances of within-species were ranged from 0 to 5.5 % and between-species was ranged from 12.9 to 15.8 %. This study distinctly confirmed the difference between genus Amphioctopus and Hapalochlaena (15.5 %), as also between O. laqueus and O. cyanea (12.9%) which was previously not completely distinguished. Although performing species identification using DNA sequences for shallow-water benthic octopus species is perhaps considered premature, this study indicated the possible application of COI sequences for species identification, thereby providing a preliminary dataset for future DNA barcoding of octopus, in particular for Indonesia waters.
... A partial fragment of the mtD- NA COIII gene (813bp) was amplified with the primers 5'-TATGTACCAGGTCCAAGTCCGTG-3' and 5'-AT-GCTCTTCTTGAATATAAGCGTAC-3', using the conditions described in Saavedra et al. (1997) and following the PCR protocol previously described in Kalkan et al. (2011). For P. elegans a 290 bp fragment of the mitochondrial CO1 gene was sequenced for 183 individuals using the primers LCO1490 and HC02198 and the protocol described in Bilgin et al. (2015). In addition, for P. elegans, a 257 fragment of the nuclear histone gene H3 was amplified for 91 individuals using the primer pair H3F-H3R following the protocol by Colgan et al. (1998). ...
Marine organisms with pelagic planktonic larval stages have high dispersal potential, yet their ranges are restricted by present and historical geographic and oceanographic features. Hydrogeographic features, such as straits and water current patterns, as well as paleoclimate can affect population connectivity, genetic differentiation, and ultimately speciation, but species distributions are also affected by life history characteristics. This study evaluates the effect of the Turkish Straits System (TSS) on the genetic differentiation of two benthic invertebrates with pelagic larvae, the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, and the rock-pool prawn, Palaemon elegans, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers (microsatellites for M. galloprovincialis and Histone H3 gene for P. elegans). For both species, the mitochondrial DNA analyses separated the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean and Levantine seas) populations into two clusters. In contrast, in both species the nuclear data indicated no differentiation between Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean populations. The results suggest that for both species, some individuals of Black Sea origin moved south, most likely through the transport of their pelagic larvae via the surface currents of the TSS. However, for the most part, individuals of Mediterranean origin (from Aegean and Levantine seas) were not able to successfully migrate in the opposite direction, though the small differences in the frequencies of migration in this direction indicate the effects of the life history characteristics of the two species on genetic structure.
... In some animal groups, morphology characteristics are entirely satisfactory (Chan et al. 2016;Mauroka et al. 2018;Korovchinsky 2019). However, in other groups, this character may lead to identification mistakes, especially in groups with limited morphological differences, such as in mole crab from the Genus Albunea (Boko and MacLaughlin 2010), cryptic species (Karanovic 2015;Bilgin et al. 2015;Bekker et al. 2016;Kusbiyanto et al. 2020) or group with limited and undeveloped morphological characters, such as egg, larvae, and early juvenile (Ko et al. 2013;Palero et al. 2016;Palecanda et al. 2020) Mole crabs, locally known as 'yutuk,' belong to Decapoda from the superfamily Hippoidea. It consists of three different families of Albuneidae, Blepharipodidae, and Hippidae, which are divided into Emerita and Hippa genera. ...
Bhagawati D, Nuryanto A, Winarni ET, Pulungsari AE. 2022. Morphological and molecular characterization of mole crab (Genus: Emerita) in the Cilacap coastlines of Indonesia, with particular focus on genetic diversity of Emerita sp. nov. Biodiversitas 23: 2395-2404. Previous studies reported Emerita emeritus is the only species of the Genus Emerita inhabiting the coastal ecosystem of the Cilacap District. A recent study reported the presence of suspected new Emerita species living on the Cilacap sandy beach but used a small number of specimens and no reports about genetic diversity. This study used more Emerita samples than the previous study. This study aimed to identify Emerita specimens based on the morphology and the cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene and analyzed the genetic diversity of Emerita sp. nov. Emerita samples were collected from three different beaches in Cilacap District, Central Java, Indonesia. Morphological identification placed the samples into two different morphotypes. Morphotype A was identified as Emerita emeritus. Morphotype B was determined as Emerita sp. nov. Molecular data support the placement of Emerita samples into Emerita emeritus, and Emeritasp. nov. Emeritasp. nov. has haplotype diversity of 0.857±0.057, indicating a high genetic diversity. Haplotype H2 was suggested as the most primitive one because other haplotypes radiated from it. This study concluded that two sympatric Emerita species inhabit Cilacap coastlines, and Emeritasp. nov. has high genetic diversity.
... Overall 52 species under the genus Sicyonia obtained globally (De Grave and Fransen, 2011;Crosnier, 2003). The species Sicyonia adunca Crosnier, 2003 and Sicyonia laevis Bate, 1881 were recorded earlier from Japan (Komai, 2011) and Sicyonia carinata (Brünnich, 1768) from Turkish waters (Bilgin et al., 2014). Crosnier (2003) divided the Indo-West Pacific Sicyoniid shrimps into eight groups and placed S. parajaponica under the "lancifer" group. ...
The present work reports detailed taxonomic information on deep-sea shrimp Sicyonia parajaponica from southwest Indian waters. The samples were caught in bottom trawls conducted between the depths of 200 and 230 m from Sakthikulangara fishing harbour off Kollam, Kerala along the Arabian Sea during November 2019. DNA barcoding and a phylogenetic analysis was used to explore the relationship of the genus Sicyonia based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI: MN816389, MN816390) with the present specimen and sequences retrieved from NCBI GenBank. There is no difference in the intraspecies genetic distance (0%) while interspecies genetic distance (19.0–28.1%) revealed divergence between the species (COI) of the genus Sicyonia.
... Page et al., 2008), and unravelling the commercial fraud resulting from peeling shrimps that lead to hiding their morphology (Galal-Khallaf et al., 2016). Similarly, DNA barcoding was employed to characterize the genetic diversity of 12 shrimp species inhabiting the Turkish coastal waters and suggested the presence of cryptic diversity in a genetically understudied marine area (Bilgin et al., 2015). These studies suggest that genetic barcoding can be an effective method for identifying and resolving relationships within crustacean organisms. ...
An unexpected new Metapenaeus shrimp species has arrived to the coastal water of Alexandria City, Egypt. Morphological and molecular studies were conducted for its identification. The results revealed that it is the Indo-West Pacific species, Metapenaeus affinis (H. Milne Edwards, 1837), which is considered as a new addition to the already present local penaeidae species; Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798) and Metapenaeus stebbingi (Nobili, 1904). Large numbers of Metapenaeus affinis were observed and collected by the Egyptian fishermen from the coastal waters of Alexandria City, Egypt, during the study period (2020–2021), which indicates its establishment in the area. A recommendation was presented for further studies regarding the suggested ways of introduction and the prediction for future new species appearance. Such phenomenon requires international efforts to deal with the non-indigenous species’ entries that are recently intensified on the global and regional level.
Among the Egyptian catch fisheries, marine shrimp species represent the
most economically important invertebrate. Likewise, this species is distributed
all over the world as a diverse one. The current study merged DNA barcoding
as a valuable complementary tool with morphology-based species
identification. Ten different maritime shrimp species were phenotypically
delineated and identified, based on the structure of the carapace; the crest,
groove, and spines, the rostrum with its teeth; dorsally and ventrally, sex
determination; the shape of the petasma and thelycum, armed or unarmed
telson, and the body colour. Phylogenetic relationships between ten Egyptian
shrimp species were examined with the nucleotide sequence data stored in the
GenBank database of partly region for the mitochondrial subunit I of
cytochrome oxidase gene (COI). Most of the produced sequences had 99–
100% similarity to conspecific sequences. Sequence assessment of the COI
gene for the phylogenetic tree distinguished all ten shrimp species into three
definite clades, which are genetically distinct from one another and
demonstrated the same phylogenetic reservations to their respective genus. The
percent GC content ranged between 41.4% in Metapenaeus monoceros and
36.6 % in Trachypenaeus curvirostris and Marsupenaeus japonicas. The
highest genetic distance (0.3) was found between Palaemon serratus and
Parapenaeus longirostris of Egypt, and Penaeus semisulcatus of India and
Trachypenaeus curvirostris of Egypt. The lowest genetic distance (0.0) was
observed between Parapenaeus longirostris of Egypt and Turkey, and
Xiphopenaeus kroyeri of Egypt, Mexico, and the USA, overlapping each other.
The current study clearly shows that DNA barcoding may be used for the
differentiation between shrimp species, which will help researchers better
understand the biology of evolution and conservation.
Although much biological research depends upon species diagnoses, taxonomic expertise is collapsing. We are convinced that the sole prospect for a sustainable identification capability lies in the construction of systems that employ DNA sequences as taxon 'barcodes'. We establish that the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) can serve as the core of a global bioidentification system for animals. First, we demonstrate that COI profiles, derived from the low-density sampling of higher taxonomic categories, ordinarily assign newly analysed taxa to the appropriate phylum or order. Second, we demonstrate that species-level assignments can be obtained by creating comprehensive COI profiles. A model COI profile, based upon the analysis of a single individual from each of 200 closely allied species of lepidopterans, was 100% successful in correctly identifying subsequent specimens. When fully developed, a COI identification system will provide a reliable, cost-effective and accessible solution to the current problem of species identification. Its assembly will also generate important new insights into the diversification of life and the rules of molecular evolution.
DNA barcoding protocols require the linkage of each sequence record to a voucher specimen that has, whenever possible, been authoritatively identified. Natural history collections would seem an ideal resource for barcode library construction, but they have never seen large-scale analysis because of concerns linked to DNA degradation. The present study examines the strength of this barrier, carrying out a comprehensive analysis of moth and butterfly (Lepidoptera) species in the Australian National Insect Collection. Protocols were developed that enabled tissue samples, specimen data, and images to be assembled rapidly. Using these methods, a five-person team processed 41,650 specimens representing 12,699 species in 14 weeks. Subsequent molecular analysis took about six months, reflecting the need for multiple rounds of PCR as sequence recovery was impacted by age, body size, and collection protocols. Despite these variables and the fact that specimens averaged 30.4 years old, barcode records were obtained from 86% of the species. In fact, one or more barcode compliant sequences (>487 bp) were recovered from virtually all species represented by five or more individuals, even when the youngest was 50 years old. By assembling specimen images, distributional data, and DNA barcode sequences on a web-accessible informatics platform, this study has greatly advanced accessibility to information on thousands of species. Moreover, much of the specimen data became publically accessible within days of its acquisition, while most sequence results saw release within three months. As such, this study reveals the speed with which DNA barcode workflows can mobilize biodiversity data, often providing the first web-accessible information for a species. These results further suggest that existing collections can enable the rapid development of a comprehensive DNA barcode library for the most diverse compartment of terrestrial biodiversity - insects.
Estimating genealogical relationships among genes at the population level presents a number of difficulties to traditional methods of phylogeny reconstruction. These traditional methods such as parsimony, neighbour-joining, and maximum-likelihood make assumptions that are invalid at the population level. In this note, we announce the availability of a new software package, TCS, to estimate genealogical relationships among sequences using the method of Templeton et al. (1992) .
Studies of recruitment dynamics in meroplanktonic organisms are dependent on the correct identification of each ontogenic stage of each species. This is particularly difficult when studying the larval stages, which are not easy to identify due to their lack of resemblance to conspecific adults and their high degree of similarity with congenerics at the same stage of development. This is the case with the crustacean megalopae of the genus Cancer along the coast of the south-eastern Pacific. This fact represents a serious limitation on ecological studies of populations of these species which constitute a heavily exploited local resource. In this study we describe in detail field collected megalopae larvae of three sympatric crab species of the genus Cancer (C. edwardsii, C. setosus and C. coronatus). As a result of this analysis we were able to identify easily visible diagnostic characters which allow the species to be distinguished from one another. The megalopae were easily distin-guished by the form of the cheliped and the presence of spines on these. Cancer edwardsii has an elongated globulose cheliped, whereas C. coronatus has a subquadrate one. Both species possess a prominent ischial spine, which is absent in C. setosus. We corroborated the utility of these diagnostic characters by comparing the COI gene sequences of mitochondrial DNA of larvae identified by morphology with sequences taken from samples of the adults of all species of Cancer found in the region. We discuss the morphological variations between larvae found across the region (i.e. at sites separated by more than 800 km) and between megalopae obtained from the field versus those cultivated in the laboratory. We conclude that the simultaneous use of morphological and molecular tools for identification of decapod larvae appears useful for the study of cryptic species.
The ability of a 650 base pair section of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene to provide species-level identifications has been demonstrated for large taxonomic assemblages of animals such as insects, birds, and fishes, but not for the subphylum Crustacea, one of the most diverse groups of arthropods. In this study, we test the ability of COI to provide identifications in this group, examining two disparate levels in the taxonomic hierarchy - orders and species. The first phase of our study involved the development of a sequence profile for 23 dominant crustacean orders, based upon the analysis of 150 species, each belonging to a different family. The COI amino acid data placed these taxa into cohesive assemblages whose membership coincided with currently accepted boundaries at the order, superorder, and subclass levels. Species-level resolution was subsequently examined in an assemblage of Decapoda and in representatives of the genera Daphnia (Cladocera) and Gammarus (Amphipoda). These studies revealed that levels of nucleotide sequence divergence were from 19 to 48 times greater between congeneric species than between individuals of a species. We conclude that sequence variation in the COI barcode region will be very effective for discriminating species of Crustacea.
Since the publication by Holthuis & Gottlieb (1958) of a list of the Decapod Crustacea known at that time to inhabit the Mediterranean waters of Israel, several additional species, 18 in number, have been found in the area, while just prior to the issue of the paper by Holthuis & Gottlieb a publication by Forest & Guinot (1958) appeared in which one species not mentioned by the former authors was listed, namely Alpheus crassimanus Heller. The total number of Decapoda now known from the Mediterranean coast of Israel thus amounts to 137 (61 Brachyura, 21 Anomura anl 55 Macrura). In the present paper the 18 new records are enumerated, while moreover some interesting finds of Decapoda in the eastern Mediterranean within and outside Israel waters are discussed. The larger part of the new Israel species (12 of the 18) were collected in the littoral area, to the study of which during the last few years particular attention has been paid by the Zoology Department of Tel-Aviv University. Of these 12 species 8 are typically Mediterranean, 4 being of Indo-West Pacific origin; the latter must have reached the Israel coast by way of the Suez Canal. The continued research by Dr. E. Gilat (= E. Gottlieb), Sea Fisheries Research Station at Haifa, of the deeper parts of the coastal waters off Israel (at depths roughly between 20 and 100 m), yielded relatively few new species (4), which shows that this area has become relatively well known by the previous explorations by Dr. Gilat. Among these four new finds there are not less than three immigrants from the Red Sea, at least one of which (Charybdis longicollis) must have arrived rather recently in Israel waters, where it now is established so well that it has become a true pest. Finally, two species were
The present paper is based mainly on material collected at the Canary Islands during the spring of 1947 by Dr. G. Thorson of Universitetets Zoologiske Museum at Copenhagen and Dr. C. O. van Regteren Altena of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie at Leiden. Most of the specimens were collected by Dr. Thorson, who devoted almost all of his time to the study of the litoral fauna, while Dr. Van Regteren Altena studied the inland fauna and only made occasional visits to the sea shore. The shrimp fauna of the Canary Islands is very poorly known. In 1839 Erulle, in the large work of Webb and Berthelot on the Natural History of the Canary Islands, listed 5 species of Caridea and since that time just two more species have been added to the list. The material collected by Dr. Thorson and Dr. Van Regteren Altena consists of 12 species, 9 of which have not been recorded previously from the Canary Islands, bringing the total number of Caridean species known from that archipelago up to 16. As the very few data about the carcinological fauna of the region are scattered over several publications, I thought it useful to give here a compilation of all the information about the Canary Islands Caridea known to me. The deep-sea forms, which are collected some distance off the islands are not included. One of the main reasons that the shrimps of the Canary Islands are so little known probably is the inaccessibility of the larger part of the shores, which makes collecting possible only at certain places and at certain times. In most places the rocky shore rises steep and high from the sea and is heavily pounded by the surf. Only at a few localities there are small protected beaches, where some collecting may be done.
The functionality of standard zoological DNA barcoding practice (the identification of unknown specimens by comparison of COI sequences) is contingent on working barcode databases with sufficient taxonomic coverage. It has already been established that the main barcoding repositories, NCBI and BOLD, are devoid of data for many animal groups but the specific taxonomic coverage of the repositories across animal biodiversity remains unexplored. Here, I shed light on this mystery by contrasting the number of unique taxon labels in the two databases with the number of currently recognized species for each animal phylum. The numbers reveal an overall paucity of COI sequence data in the repositories (15.13% total coverage across the recognized biodiversity on Earth, and 20.76% average taxonomic coverage for each phylum) and, more importantly, bear witness to the idleness towards numerous phyla, rendering current barcoding efforts either ineffective or inaccurate. The importance of further integrating taxonomic expertise into barcoding practice is briefly discussed and some guidelines, previously mentioned in the barcoding literature, are suggested anew. Finally, the asserted values concerning the taxonomic coverage in barcoding databases for Animalia are contrasted with those of Plantae and Fungi.