A molecular framework for the taxonomy and systematics of Japanese marine turbellarian flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida)

The order Polycladida comprises a highly diverse and cosmopolitan group of marine turbellarian flatworms. Owing to the great morphological diversity and the absence of a molecular phylogeny, the classification of this group has always been controversial. Here we seek to add resolution by reporting the results of molecular phylogenetic analysis based on sequences of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene, thus providing a framework for understanding relationships and the evolution of characters within the group. The phylogeny provides strong support for 10 and 7 distinct families within the suborders Acotylea and Cotylea, respectively. In addition, an analysis based on the mitochondrial gene sequences (cytochrome c-oxidase subunit I) reveals further details of the relationships within Acotylea, which were classified by morphological analysis, but not by 28S rRNA sequence-based analyses. These analyses also showed that several species corresponded to previously described genera based on morphological features and character combinations. We conclude that a classification of genera in Acotylea and Cotylea based on molecular phylogeny reflects the morphological diversity of these polyclad flatworms.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  Aquatic Biology

• Publication date

  2017-09-05

• Fields of study

  Biology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3354/AB00682
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Seasonal Changes in the Tetrodotoxin Content of the Flatworm Planocera multitentaculata

  2017cited by this paper
• Intracellular Immunohistochemical Detection of Tetrodotoxin in Pleurobranchaea maculata (Gastropoda) and Stylochoplana sp. (Turbellaria)

  2015cited by this paper
• Inclusive taxon sampling suggests a single, stepwise origin of ectolecithality in Platyhelminthes

  2014cited by this paper
• Problematic barcoding in flatworms: A case-study on monogeneans and rhabdocoels (Platyhelminthes)

  2013cited by this paper
• Tetrodotoxin Concentrations in Pleurobranchaea maculata: Temporal, Spatial and Individual Variability from New Zealand Populations

  2012cited by this paper
• Taxonomy and life history of the Acropora-eating flatworm Amakusaplana acroporae nov. sp. (Polycladida: Prosthiostomidae)

  2011cited by this paper
• Detection of tetrodotoxin from the grey side-gilled sea slug - Pleurobranchaea maculata, and associated dog neurotoxicosis on beaches adjacent to the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand.

  2010cited by this paper
• trimAl: a tool for automated alignment trimming in large-scale phylogenetic analyses

  2009cited by this paper
• Molecular phylogeny of land and freshwater planarians (Tricladida, Platyhelminthes): from freshwater to land and back.

  2008influential reference
• An evaluation of LSU rDNA D1-D2 sequences for their use in species identification

  2007cited by this paper
• Finely Orchestrated Movements: Evolution of the Ribosomal RNA Genes

  2007cited by this paper
• Ecological functions of tetrodotoxin in a deadly polyclad flatworm.

  2006cited by this paper
• Immunoenzymatic visualization of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in Cephalothrix species (Nemertea: Anopla: Palaeonemertea: Cephalotrichidae) and Planocera reticulata (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria: Polycladida: Planoceridae).

  2004cited by this paper
• The importance of the fixation of colour, pattern and form in tropical Pseudocerotidae (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida)

  2004cited by this paper
• Ribosomal ITS sequences and plant phylogenetic inference.

  2003cited by this paper
• Defining phyla: morphological and molecular clues to metazoan evolution

  2003cited by this paper
• Biological identifications through DNA barcodes

  2003cited by this paper
• A molecular framework for the phylogeny of the Pseudocerotidae (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida)

  2001cited by this paper
• Biodiversity and systematics of basidiomycetous yeasts as determined by large-subunit rDNA D1/D2 domain sequence analysis.

  2000cited by this paper
• Interpreting the universal phylogenetic tree.

  2000cited by this paper
• Molecular Phylogeny of Asian Freshwater and Marine Stingrays Based on the DNA Nucleotide and Deduced Amino Acid Sequences of the Cytochrome b Gene.

  1999cited by this paper
• Identification and phylogeny of ascomycetous yeasts from analysis of nuclear large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA partial sequences

  1998cited by this paper
• Phylogenetic Relationships among Turbellarian Orders Inferred from 18S rDNA Sequences

  1996cited by this paper
• Stylochus (Imogene) matatasi n. sp. (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida): pest of cultured giant clams and pearl oysters from Solomon Islands

  1993cited by this paper
• Phylogenetic position of Acoel turbellarians inferred from partial 18S rDNA sequences.

  1993cited by this paper
• Polyclad turbellarians recorded from African waters

  1989cited by this paper
• Distribution of tetrodotoxin in the tissues of the flatworm Planocera multitentaculata (Platyhelminthes).

  1987cited by this paper
• Occurrence of tetrodotoxin in the flatworm Planocera multitentaculata.

  1986cited by this paper
• A monograph on polyclad Turbellaria

  1985cited by this paper
• The Polycladida, Turbellaria. Proposal and establishment of a new system. Part 1. The Acotylea

  1983influential reference
• Stylochus mediterraneus (Turbellaria: Polycladida), predator on the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

  1980cited by this paper
• Polyclads of the Tuscan Coasts. II. Stylochus Alexandrinus Steinböck and Stylochus Mediterraneus n. sp. from the Rocky Shores near Pisa and Livorno

  1976cited by this paper
• The Polyclad Genus Pseudoceros, with Special Reference to the Indo-Pacific Region

  1954cited by this paper
• The Invertebrates: Platyhelminthes And Rhynchocoela:The Acoelomate Bilateria (Volume-2)

  1951cited by this paper
• XXXIV.—On some Polyclad Turbellarians from the Cayman Islands

  1944cited by this paper
• THE FAUNA OF AKKESHI BAY V.POLYCLADIDA

  1937cited by this paper
• THREE POLYCLADS FROM NORTHERN JAPAN

  1937cited by this paper
• Die polycladen (seeplanarien) des golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden meeres-abschnitte. Eine monographie von d' Arnold Lang. Mit 39 tafeln in lithographie und 54 figuren im text.

  year unknowncited by this paper

• Description of a new species of Didangia Faubel, 1983 (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Didangiidae), with a suggestion for the function of its unique penis stylet based on morphology

  2025cites this paper
• Base-substitution rates of nuclear and mitochondrial genes for polyclad flatworms

  2024cites this paper
• Non-Indigenous Species Dynamics in Time and Space within the Coastal Waters of The Netherlands

  2023cites this paper
• A New Polyclad Flatworm, Idiostylochus tortuosus gen. nov., sp. nov. (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida) from France. Can this Foreign Flatworm be Responsible for the Deterioration of Oyster and Mussel Farms?

  2023cites this paper
• A new species of Cycloporus from the Adriatic Sea, with an updated phylogeny of the families Euryleptidae and Stylostomidae (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes).

  2023cites this paper
• The first report of a parasitic ‘turbellarian’ from a cephalopod mollusc, with description of Octopoxenus antarcticus gen. nov., sp. nov. (Platyhelminthes: Fecampiida: Notenteridae)

  2022cites this paper
• A phylogenomic approach to resolving interrelationships of polyclad flatworms, with implications for life-history evolution

  2022cites this paper
• Phylogenomics suggests that larvae are ancestral in polyclads, but not homologous to the trochophore

  2022cites this paper
• First Detection of Tetrodotoxins in the Cotylean Flatworm Prosthiostomum trilineatum

  2021cites this paper
• Description of a New Species of the Marine Flatworm Prosthiostomum (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) and its Three Known Congeners from Misaki, Japan, with Inference of Their Phylogenetic Positions within Prosthiostomidae.

  2021influential citation
• Description of a new species of Alloioplana (Polycladida: Stylochoplanidae) with an inference on its phylogenetic position in Leptoplanoidea

  2021cites this paper
• Taxonomic Distribution of Tetrodotoxin in Acotylean Flatworms (Polycladida: Platyhelminthes)

  2020cites this paper
• A New Species of Zygantroides (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from Amakusa, Japan

  2020cites this paper
• The genetic structure of the marine flatworm Stylochoplana pusilla (Rhabditophora: Polycladida) and its use of intertidal snails

  2020cites this paper
• Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Acotylea (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida)

  2020influential citation
• Systematic congruence in Polycladida (Platyhelminthes, Rhabditophora): are DNA and morphology telling the same story?

  2019cites this paper
• Polyclad phylogeny persists to be problematic

  2019cites this paper
• Toxic Flatworm Egg Plates Serve as a Possible Source of Tetrodotoxin for Pufferfish

  2019cites this paper
• Description of a new species of Paraplehnia (Polycladida, Stylochoidea) from Japan, with inference on the phylogenetic position of Plehniidae

  2019cites this paper
• Including planocerid flatworms in the diet effectively toxifies the pufferfish, Takifugu niphobles

  2018cites this paper
• TTX-Bearing Planocerid Flatworm (Platyhelminthes: Acotylea) in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

  2018cites this paper