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Diversity
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Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria
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Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 12214

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Angelo Poliseno

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
Interests: Octocorals; systematics; evolution; phylogeny; genomics; species diversity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The phylum Cnidaria includes over 10,000 species of corals, jellyfish, hydrozoans and marine parasites divided into three main clades: Anthozoa, Endocnidozoa and Medusozoa. Despite the increasing number of phylogenomic studies over the past decade, ancestral relationships within different cnidarian lineages remain controversial, especially with regard to the class Anthozoa. In this respect, one of the most recent phylogenies obtained from ultraconserved elements and exon loci recovered the reciprocally monophyletic anthozoan classes Hexacorallia and Octocorallia, and Ceriantharia was found as the earliest diverging hexacoral lineage. The clade Endocnidozoa, which mainly includes parasitic organisms, has been only recently collocated within Cnidaria. In particular, the genome and transcriptome data obtained from the mixozoan species Thelohanellus kitauei confirmed the origin of Mixozoa as a derived cnidarian class and highlighted its affinity with the clade Medusozoa. Regarding this latter, three of the four classes (Cubozoa, Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa) were phylogenetically well-defined, whereas Staurozoa is currently considered one of the most poorly understood cnidarian taxon, both in terms of biology and evolution. Recent phylogenetic reconstructions have placed Staurozoa as either a sister to Medusozoa or within Cubozoa and Scyphozoa. While phylogenomic analyses have advanced our understanding within some cnidarian groups, the overall information available for most of the genomes is currently scattered and very limited. Therefore, future investigations on the genome structure of different cnidarian lineages—including, for instance, the analysis of patterns of DNA methylation, and the study and classification of repetitive elements—will further contribute to expanding our knowledge on the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of the entire phylum.

This Special Issue aims to highlight papers that address the diversity and molecular phylogeny of different cnidarians. We encourage the submission of original research articles that combine morphological and molecular approaches for the study of species’ diversity on local and global scales. In particular, we appreciate papers that exploit the use of genomic and transcriptomic data for phylogenetic reconstructions and for evolutionary insights.

Dr. Angelo Poliseno
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ancestral state reconstruction
  • biodiversity
  • evolutionary biology
  • genetic diversity
  • genomics
  • molecular dating
  • phylogenetic tree
  • phylogenomics
  • species delimitation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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20 pages, 11558 KiB  
Article
Reconstructing the Biogeographic History of the Genus Aurelia Lamarck, 1816 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa), and Reassessing the Nonindigenous Status of A. solida and A. coerulea in the Mediterranean Sea
by Alfredo Fernández-Alías, Concepción Marcos and Angel Pérez-Ruzafa
Diversity 2023, 15(12), 1181; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121181 - 29 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1689
Abstract
The genus Aurelia is one of the most extensively studied within the class Scyphozoa. However, much of the research was historically attributed to the species Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758) before the recognition of its taxonomic complexity. Initially considered cosmopolitan and globally distributed, recent [...] Read more.
The genus Aurelia is one of the most extensively studied within the class Scyphozoa. However, much of the research was historically attributed to the species Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758) before the recognition of its taxonomic complexity. Initially considered cosmopolitan and globally distributed, recent phylogenetic analysis has challenged this assumption. Consequently, the current distribution of species within the genus Aurelia and the processes that led to this distribution remain largely unexplored. After genetically confirming that the species traditionally present in the Mar Menor coastal lagoon in the southwestern Mediterranean corresponds to A. solida, we compiled data on the locations where moon jellyfish species have been genetically identified and mapped these coordinates to the geological period when the genus Aurelia diverged from other scyphozoan genera. We propose two hypotheses to explain the disjunct distribution of certain species. The first one assumes recent human-mediated introductions, while the second posits an absence of introductions. Both hypotheses, supported by fossil and historical records, suggest a Paleo-Tethys origin of the genus Aurelia. Migration from this area explains most of the genus’s current distribution without human intervention, being the Mediterranean Sea, where A. solida should be considered autochthonous, part of their natural distribution range. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria)
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15 pages, 4880 KiB  
Article
Histological Investigation of the Female Gonads of Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Cubozoa: Cnidaria) Suggests Iteroparous Reproduction
by Jimena García-Rodríguez, Cheryl Lewis Ames, Adrian Jaimes-Becerra, Gisele Rodrigues Tiseo, André Carrara Morandini, Amanda Ferreira Cunha and Antonio Carlos Marques
Diversity 2023, 15(7), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15070816 - 28 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2451
Abstract
The box jellyfish Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Chirodropida: Cubozoa: Cnidaria) is common in warm waters. Although it is assumed that external fertilization is a characteristic of Chirodropida, the life history of C. quadrumanus is not yet known since its reproductive behavior has never been described, [...] Read more.
The box jellyfish Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Chirodropida: Cubozoa: Cnidaria) is common in warm waters. Although it is assumed that external fertilization is a characteristic of Chirodropida, the life history of C. quadrumanus is not yet known since its reproductive behavior has never been described, nor has the polyp has been found in nature. As a result, in the absence of documentation of reproductive behavior, we sought to test the hypothesis of external fertilization through a histological analysis of the female gonads. Herein, we analyze ten females collected in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and describe the gonadal organization and pattern of oocyte development. The discovery of four distinct stages of oocyte differentiation augments the scant existing reports of the structural and functional maturation of sex cells in Cubozoa species. Furthermore, the gonads of mature females comprise both mature (average diameter of 122 µm) and immature oocytes, suggesting that C. quadrumanus is iteroparous and exhibits multiple reproductive cycles during its life. Medusa bell size was not found to correlate with maturity state as even small females possessed a high percentage of oocytes in late vitellogenesis, suggesting that sexual maturation occurs rapidly in C. quadrumanus females. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria)
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38 pages, 18937 KiB  
Article
Fluorescent Anemones in Japan—Comprehensive Revision of Japanese Actinernoidea (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Anenthemonae) with Rearrangements of the Classification
by Takato Izumi, Takuma Fujii, Kensuke Yanagi and Toshihiko Fujita
Diversity 2023, 15(6), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15060773 - 13 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2660
Abstract
Actinernoidea is a superfamily of the suborder Anenthemonae of the order Actiniaria, subclass Hexacorallia. This superfamily has been diagnosed by a peculiar endocoeletic mesenterial arrangement and included two families, Actinernidae and Halcuriidae. Although the monophyly of this superfamily is anticipated based on preceding [...] Read more.
Actinernoidea is a superfamily of the suborder Anenthemonae of the order Actiniaria, subclass Hexacorallia. This superfamily has been diagnosed by a peculiar endocoeletic mesenterial arrangement and included two families, Actinernidae and Halcuriidae. Although the monophyly of this superfamily is anticipated based on preceding molecular phylogenetic works, the relationship between these two families was not certain because of the rarity of actinernoidean anemones. We conducted comprehensive sampling in Japan, where the highest diversity of actinernoideans is known, and conducted phylogenetic analyses using nuclear and mitochondrial gene markers. According to the comprehensive analyses, both Actinernidae and Halcuriidae were not indicated as monophyletic but rather as poly- or paraphyletic. Based on our phylogeny reconstruction, we propose a new classification for Actinernoidea composed of three families, including Isactinernidae fam. nov., and seven genera, including Isohalcurias gen. nov. We also describe four new species, Halcurias hiroomii sp. nov., H. fragum sp. nov., Isohalcurias citreum sp. nov., and I. malum sp. nov.; and propose a new combination, Isohalcurias carlgreni comb. nov. This work is the first study of Actinernoidea that comprehensively analyzes its phylogeny and rearranges its classification, showing that there is highly divergent fauna in the seas around Japan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria)
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17 pages, 5551 KiB  
Article
New Records of the Cryptogenic Soft Coral Genus Stragulum (Tubiporidae) from the Eastern Caribbean and the Persian Gulf
by Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Leen P. van Ofwegen, Bert W. Hoeksema, Lucy C. Woodall, Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern and Catherine S. McFadden
Diversity 2022, 14(11), 909; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110909 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2038
Abstract
The monotypic soft coral genus Stragulum van Ofwegen and Haddad, 2011 (Octocorallia: Malacalcyonacea: Tubiporidae) was originally described from Brazil, southwest Atlantic Ocean. Here, we report the first records of the genus from the eastern Caribbean and the Persian Gulf in the northwest Indian [...] Read more.
The monotypic soft coral genus Stragulum van Ofwegen and Haddad, 2011 (Octocorallia: Malacalcyonacea: Tubiporidae) was originally described from Brazil, southwest Atlantic Ocean. Here, we report the first records of the genus from the eastern Caribbean and the Persian Gulf in the northwest Indian Ocean. We compare the morphological features of specimens, together with molecular data from three commonly used barcoding markers (COI, mtMutS, 28S rDNA) and 308 ultraconserved elements (UCE) and exon loci sequenced using a target-enrichment approach. The molecular and morphological data together suggest that specimens from all three localities are the same species, i.e., Stragulum bicolor van Ofwegen and Haddad, 2011. It is still not possible to establish the native range of the species or determine whether it may be an introduced species due to the limited number of specimens included in this study. However, the lack of historical records, its fouling abilities on artificial substrates, and a growing number of observations support the invasive nature of the species in Brazilian and Caribbean waters and therefore suggest that it may have been introduced into the Atlantic from elsewhere. Interestingly, the species has not shown any invasive behaviour in the Persian Gulf, where it has been found only on natural, rocky substrates. The aim of the present report is to create awareness of this taxon with the hope that this will lead to new records from other localities and help to establish its native range. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria)
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8 pages, 11375 KiB  
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First Record of Sarsia tubulosa (M. Sars, 1835) (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) on Red King Crabs in the Coastal Barents Sea
by Ninel N. Panteleeva, Alexander G. Dvoretsky and Vladimir G. Dvoretsky
Diversity 2024, 16(1), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16010072 - 22 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1490
Abstract
Sarsia tubulosa (M. Sars, 1835), a colonial hydrozoan of the family Corynidae, is common in the Barents Sea. This study provides new evidence that the species acts as an epibiont of the red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus, a non-indigenous but remarkably abundant [...] Read more.
Sarsia tubulosa (M. Sars, 1835), a colonial hydrozoan of the family Corynidae, is common in the Barents Sea. This study provides new evidence that the species acts as an epibiont of the red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus, a non-indigenous but remarkably abundant decapod crustacean of immense commercial value in the coastal regions of the sea. This finding adds to the current collection of identified epibionts on the red king crab and highlights the prospect of ongoing symbiotic relationships between the crab and the regional fauna. We also provide photographic evidence of S. tubulosa colonies and a comparative morphological evaluation with another closely related corynid, Coryne hincksi Bonnevie, 1898, previously found on the red king crab. The main differences between these two species are the location of the gonophores (reproductive organs) on the hydranths and the final stage of their development: in the form of free-floating medusae (S. tubulosa) or remaining sessile as sporosacs (C. hincksi). Other distinguishing features include variations in hydranth morphology, number and arrangement of tentacles, and structural development of gonophores. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Cnidaria)
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