Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

Table of Contents - August 2011 - Volume 91, Issue 05  

Research Article

Taxonomy and phylogeny of Armina (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia: Arminidae) from the Atlantic and eastern Pacific

Diana P. Báeza1 c1, Néstor Ardilaa2, Ángel Valdésa3 and Arturo Acero P.a1

a1 CECIMAR, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Santa Marta, Colombia

a2 Laboratorio de Biología Molecular Marina (BIOMMAR), Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática, Universidad de Los Andes, Apartado 4976, Bogotá, Colombia

a3 Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona, California 91768, USA

Abstract

Armina is the most species-rich genus of the Arminidae family with over 50 nominal species. Material of the genus Armina from the western Atlantic and the eastern Pacific was revised. Six species have been documented from the western Atlantic; however, we have determined that only four of them are valid: Armina muelleri, A. wattla, A. juliana and A. elongata. Also, only three out of seven species previously registered in the eastern Pacific were recognized in the present study: A. californica, A. cordellensis and Armina sp., an unnamed species. The phylogenetic analysis of 13 taxa and 17 characters was performed using the program PAUP (Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony). The Branch-and-Bound algorithm generated a 29-step tree with the following relations: (Histiomena convolvula, (Dermatobranchus sp., ((((A. californica , (A. maculata, A. muelleri)), ((A. loveni, A. neapolitana), A. wattla)), (A. cordellensis, (Armina sp., A. juliana))), (A. tigrina, A. elongata)))). The monophyletic evidence for Armina is discussed and compared to possible speciation processes similar to those found in other Opisthobranchia groups.

(Received May 18 2010)

(Accepted November 12 2010)

(Online publication January 21 2011)

Keywords

Correspondence:

c1 Correspondence should be addressed to: D.P. Báez, CECIMAR, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Santa Marta, Colombia email: dpbaez@yahoo.com