A research group led by graduate students Naoto Sawada and Yusuke Fuke of the Graduate School of Science at Kyoto University, have discovered through examination of specimens, population genetic analysis and morphological analysis, that the scientific name S. decipiens, which should originally have been given to S. multigranosa, was mistaken for the species previously called 'Tatehidakawanina ' and that there are two undescribed species with no scientific name in the genus Semisulcospira.
Provided by Kyoto University
The freshwater mollusk genus Semisulcospira has undergone explosive diversification of species in Lake Biwa, with each species adapting to different environments in the lake, but there was confusion over the classification of older species described in the 1800s in the genus Semisulcospira in Lake Biwa. The research group compared the definition of current species definitions of these freshwater snail species at the time of their naming, as they suspected that the scientific name of multigranosa, named in 1883, may have been incorrectly used for Semisulcospira over the past 140 years.
As a result, the two groups of closely related species constituted by the Semisulcospira genus in Lake Biwa were redefined as the niponica group and the nakasekoae group. They then named the new species elongata and cryptica, and described the definitions, identification points and distribution areas of the seven species of the Semisulcospira genus.
The results of this research have solved most of the taxonomic problems facing the genus Biwa Semisulcospira and updated our knowledge on the species diversity and morphological evolution of this genus. "We have identified undescribed species in Lake Biwa that have not yet been given scientific names, so we would like to name these species and find out how many species of Semisulcospira are in Lake Biwa," explained Sawada. "We also want to understand how they have evolved in Lake Biwa by studying the genetic relationships between them and the way they live."
Journal Information
Publication: Invertebrate Systematics
Title: Systematic revision of the Japanese freshwater snail Semisulcospira decipiens (Mollusca: Semisulcospiridae): implications for diversification in the ancient Lake Biwa
DOI: 10.1071/IS22042
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