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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 38(2)

Sample design in biodiversity studies matters: a fine-scale study of Lawrence’s velvet worm, Peripatopsis lawrencei (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae), reveals hidden diversity

Julian A. Nieto Lawrence https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-5803 A and Savel R. Daniels https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2956-3256 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.

* Correspondence to: srd@sun.ac.za

Handling Editor: Gonzalo Giribet

Invertebrate Systematics 38, IS23051 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS23051
Submitted: 16 October 2023  Accepted: 15 January 2024  Published: 7 February 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.

Abstract

A fine-scale phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis of Peripatopsis lawrencei s.l. was conducted with both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, using both external morphology and scanning electron microscopy of taxonomically important characters. A total of 119 sequences were used for the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) whereas a single representative specimen from each locality was sequenced for the nuclear 18S rRNA locus. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on the total COI data set and the combined COI + 18S rRNA data set using a Bayesian analysis and maximum likelihood analyses. For the combined DNA sequence data set, a divergence time estimation was further undertaken in BEAST and specimens placed in a phylogenetic framework including all the described Peripatopsis species from South Africa. In addition, a phylogeographic study was conducted exclusively on P. lawrencei s.s. (clade A) using an analysis of molecular variance and haplotype network. Phylogenetic results indicated that, at the Oubos sample locality, two highly distinct genetic lineages were present (clades A and B), whereas a divergence time estimation suggests a Miocene cladogenesis of the novel Oubos lineage. Marked phylogeographic structure was observed for P. lawrencei s.s. (restricted to clade A) across the distribution range with limited maternal dispersal. Morphologically, the two sympatric lineages at Oubos A and B differed in leg pair number, ventral colour and dorsal scale rank counts, as evident from scanning electron microscopy. Our results support the recognition of a distinct species that occurs in sympatry with P. lawrencei s.s. The new species, P. aereus sp. nov. (clade B) is described and the implication for fine-scale taxonomic studies on saproxylic taxa is discussed.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AB6E0BDA-7B5F-4FD3-A863-BA7C814E278C

Keywords: cladogenesis, phylogenetics, phylogeography, saproxylic invertebrates, SEM, sympatry, systematics.

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