Unrecognized species-level diversity of terrestrial nemerteans in the UNESCO world heritage Ogasawara Islands revealed by mitogenomics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The terrestrial ribbon worm Geonemertes pelaensis Semper, 1863 (phylum Nemertea) is widely reported from tropical regions worldwide. In Japan, this species has been recorded from subtropical islands including the Ogasawara Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site south of Tokyo recognized for its unique biodiversity, where it has been implicated in the decline of native soil invertebrates. Here, we demonstrate that the nemerteans in the Ogasawara Islands are genetically and morphologically distinct from those found on Yonaguni Island (Okinawa, Japan), indicating the presence of at least two separate species in Japan.

Results

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of both populations (18,755 bp for Ogasawara; 31,745 bp for Yonaguni), revealing substantial dif

SUBMITTER: Hookabe N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12715917 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature