@article {1902, title = {Hidden diversity in forest soils: Characterization and comparison of terrestrial flatworm{\textquoteright}s communities in two national parks in Spain}, journal = {Ecology and EvolutionEcology and EvolutionEcol Evol}, volume = {8}, year = {2018}, note = {doi: 10.1002/ece3.4178}, month = {2018/08/01}, pages = {7386 - 7400}, publisher = {John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd}, abstract = {Abstract Terrestrial flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, and Geoplanidae) belong to what is known as cryptic soil fauna of humid forests and are animals not easily found or captured in traps. Nonetheless, they have been demonstrated to be good indicators of the conservation status of their habitat as well as a good model to reconstruct the recent and old events affecting biodiversity. This is mainly due to their delicate constitution, their dependence on the integrity of their habitat, and their very low dispersal capacity. At present, little is known about their communities, except for some studies performed in Brazil. In this work, we analyze for the first time in Europe terrestrial flatworm communities. We have selected two protected areas belonging to the Red Espa{\~n}ola de Parques Nacionales. Our aims include performing a first study of the species richness and community structure for European terrestrial planarian species at regional and local scale. We evaluate the effect of type of forests in the community composition and flatworms? abundance, but also have into account the phylogenetic framework (never considered in previous studies) analyzed based on molecular data. We find differences in the species composition among parks, with an astonishingly high diversity of endemic species in the Parque Nacional de Picos de Europa and an extremely low diversity of species in the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. These divergent patterns cannot be attributed to differences in physical variables, and in addition, the analyses of their phylogenetic relationships and, for a few species, their genetic structure, point to a more probable historical explanation.}, keywords = {Last Glacial Maximum, Microplana, molecular phylogenetics, refugia, soil ecology, species diversity}, isbn = {2045-7758}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4178}, author = {{\'A}lvarez-Presas, Marta and Mateos, Eduardo and Riutort, Marta} } @article {1681, title = {Towards a comprehensive, integrative analysis of the diversity of European microplaninid land flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Microplaninae), with the description of two peculiar new species}, journal = {Systematics and BiodiversitySystematics and Biodiversity}, volume = {14}, year = {2016}, note = {doi: 10.1080/14772000.2015.1103323}, month = {2016/01/02}, pages = {9 - 31}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, abstract = {

The present study forms a first and major step towards a comprehensive morphological and molecular analysis of the species diversity of European microplaninid land planarians by presenting a molecular phylogenetic tree on the basis of alignments of the mitochondrial Cox1 gene from 158 specimens as well as a concatenated phylogeny (Cox1 and 18S genes) on the basis of 41 sequences for nine Microplana species included in this study. Genetic distances between and within known and new species were calculated. Combined morphological and molecular results facilitated an integrative delimitation of new species as well as the diagnosis of new populations of already known species. An integrative account is provided of two new and aberrant species from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Through the molecular approach a Confirmed Candidate Species was detected among the newly sampled populations. Further we document samples from new localities for five already known species as well as new sites for the Confirmed Candidate Species. The new data considerably expand the European range of several already known species included in the present study. The results of an in-depth study of the taxonomic literature, as well as original material, are documented since this was required for appropriate identification of the new materials. This part of the study resulted in a re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of several nominal species and in the following taxonomic conclusions: Rhynchodemus pyrenaicus is a species of Microplana and not Rhynchodemus; Rhynchodemus attemsi, R. peneckei, and R. henrici should be transferred to the genus Microplana; Microplana attemsi and M. peneckei are not junior synonyms of M. henrici; Microplana styriaca is not a synonym of M. terrestris; Rhynchodemus howesi is not a junior synonym of M. pyrenaica and belongs to the genus Rhynchodemus and not to Microplana; Microplana richardi is not a synonym of M. terrestris. The current diagnosis of the genus Microplana should be amended such that it refers to the situation that the species generally have two small eyes but occasionally may have multiple eyes.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:22B437AA-9D41-4DA0-AE3C-BD8F636CB96DThe present study forms a first and major step towards a comprehensive morphological and molecular analysis of the species diversity of European microplaninid land planarians by presenting a molecular phylogenetic tree on the basis of alignments of the mitochondrial Cox1 gene from 158 specimens as well as a concatenated phylogeny (Cox1 and 18S genes) on the basis of 41 sequences for nine Microplana species included in this study. Genetic distances between and within known and new species were calculated. Combined morphological and molecular results facilitated an integrative delimitation of new species as well as the diagnosis of new populations of already known species. An integrative account is provided of two new and aberrant species from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Through the molecular approach a Confirmed Candidate Species was detected among the newly sampled populations. Further we document samples from new localities for five already known species as well as new sites for the Confirmed Candidate Species. The new data considerably expand the European range of several already known species included in the present study. The results of an in-depth study of the taxonomic literature, as well as original material, are documented since this was required for appropriate identification of the new materials. This part of the study resulted in a re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of several nominal species and in the following taxonomic conclusions: Rhynchodemus pyrenaicus is a species of Microplana and not Rhynchodemus; Rhynchodemus attemsi, R. peneckei, and R. henrici should be transferred to the genus Microplana; Microplana attemsi and M. peneckei are not junior synonyms of M. henrici; Microplana styriaca is not a synonym of M. terrestris; Rhynchodemus howesi is not a junior synonym of M. pyrenaica and belongs to the genus Rhynchodemus and not to Microplana; Microplana richardi is not a synonym of M. terrestris. The current diagnosis of the genus Microplana should be amended such that it refers to the situation that the species generally have two small eyes but occasionally may have multiple eyes.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:22B437AA-9D41-4DA0-AE3C-BD8F636CB96D

}, isbn = {1477-2000}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2015.1103323}, author = {Sluys, Ronald and Mateos, Eduardo and Riutort, Marta and {\'A}lvarez-Presas, Marta} } @article {ZOJ:ZOJ12358, title = {The true identity of Obama (Platyhelminthes: Geoplanidae) flatworm spreading across Europe}, journal = {Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {177}, number = {1}, year = {2016}, pages = {5{\textendash}28}, abstract = {

Since 2008 there have been many records in Europe (British Isles, Spain, France, Italy) of a large terrestrial planarian morphologically very similar to the Brazilian species Obama marmorata. Sequences of mitochondrial (Cox1) and nuclear (18S, 28S, ITS-1 and EF) genes from European specimens and some from Brazil indicate that they belong to a species different from that of other specimens also collected in Brazil. Moreover, the phylogenetic results show that they are not sister-species. Histological sections of both Brazilian and European specimens reveal subtle morphological differences between the two species. Obama marmorata is confined to Brazil, and the second, herein described new species, Obama nungara sp. nov., is found in Brazil and Europe. These cryptic species may be syntopic in areas in Brazil. The new species occurs in human-modified environments both in Brazil and in Europe. We also conclude that the specimens from Spain and Argentina identified previously as Obama marmorata belong to the new species.

}, keywords = {BPP, Continenticola, Cox I gene, Geoplana, GMYC, histology, morphology, phylogeny, planarians}, issn = {1096-3642}, doi = {10.1111/zoj.12358}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12358}, author = {Carbayo, Fernando and {\'A}lvarez-Presas, Marta and Jones, Hugh D. and Riutort, Marta} } @article {1493, title = {Evolutionary Analysis of Mitogenomes from Parasitic and Free-Living Flatworms}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, year = {2015}, month = {2015}, pages = {e0120081}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, address = {San Francisco, CA USA}, abstract = {

Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are useful and relatively accessible sources of molecular data to explore and understand the evolutionary history and relationships of eukaryotic organisms across diverse taxonomic levels. The availability of complete mitogenomes from Platyhelminthes is limited; of the 40 or so published most are from parasitic flatworms (Neodermata). Here, we present the mitogenomes of two free-living flatworms (Tricladida): the complete genome of the freshwater species Crenobia alpina (Planariidae) and a nearly complete genome of the land planarian Obama sp. (Geoplanidae). Moreover, we have reanotated the published mitogenome of the species Dugesia japonica (Dugesiidae). This contribution almost doubles the total number of mtDNAs published for Tricladida, a species-rich group including model organisms and economically important invasive species. We took the opportunity to conduct comparative mitogenomic analyses between available free-living and selected parasitic flatworms in order to gain insights into the putative effect of life cycle on nucleotide composition through mutation and natural selection. Unexpectedly, we did not find any molecular hallmark of a selective relaxation in mitogenomes of parasitic flatworms; on the contrary, three out of the four studied free-living triclad mitogenomes exhibit higher A+T content and selective relaxation levels. Additionally, we provide new and valuable molecular data to develop markers for future phylogenetic studies on planariids and geoplanids.

}, isbn = {1932-6203}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4368550/}, author = {Sol{\`a}, Eduard and {\'A}lvarez-Presas, Marta and Fr{\'\i}as-L{\'o}pez, Cristina and Littlewood, D Timothy J and Rozas, Julio and Riutort, Marta}, editor = {Escriva, Hector} }