2013/05/23 by Michelle Klautau, Fernanda Correia Azevedo, Báslavi Cóndor-Luján +3 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Marine Sponges and Natural Products #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/icb/ict039
openalex publication_date 2013/05/23 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Most biological groups are still longing for a phylogenetically sound taxonomic organization. In this article, we aimed to verify the consistency of morphological characters in calcarean sponges of the well-known non-monophyletic order Clathrinida using a molecular phylogeny. For this we included 50 species, including six type species, currently assigned to eight different genera. A maximum likelihood topology was generated for the nuclear ITS marker using the General Time Reversible model and the bootstrap reliability test. Our topology indicated 10 clathrinid clades that included species with consistent morphological characters. In the present study, we defined nine of these clades as clathrinid genera, including four newly described and two newly diagnosed genera. Recent studies have indicated that not much phylogenetic information may be found in morphology, but our findings contradict this general assertion. Our study confirms the suitability of skeleton and body anastomosis as valid characters in a phylogenetically sound taxonomy for the order. Interestingly, we have also found that, apart from the Calcinea/Calcaronea split and a few minor details, Haeckel's original proposal is remarkably similar to our own, which was based on a molecular phylogeny 140 years later.