"Forms" of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia): intraspecific variation or valid species?

ABSTRACT: In many groups of organisms, especially in the older literature, it has been common practice to recognize sympatrically occurring phenotypic variants of a species as "forms". However, what these forms really represent often remains unclear, especially in poorly studied groups. With new algorithms for DNA-based species delimitation, the status of forms can be explicitly tested with molecular data. In this study, we test a number of what is now recognized as valid species of water mites (Hydrachnidia), but have in the past been treated as forms sympatrically occurring with their nominate species. We also test a form without prior taxonomical status, using DNA and morphometrics. The barcoding fragment of COI, nuclear 28S and quantitative analyses of morphological data were used to test whethe

SUBMITTER: Stalstedt J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3797488 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature