Abstract
Central to the discovery of neuroactive compounds produced by predatory marine snails of the superfamily Conoidea (cone snails, terebrids, and turrids) is identifying those species with a venom apparatus. Previous analyses of western Pacific terebrid specimens has shown that some Terebridae groups have secondarily lost their venom apparatus. In order to efficiently characterize terebrid toxins, it is essential to devise a key for identifying which species have a venom apparatus. The findings presented here integrate molecular phylogeny and the evolution of character traits to infer the presence or absence of the venom apparatus in the Terebridae. Using a combined dataset of 156 western and 33 eastern Pacific terebrid samples, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on analyses of 16S, COI and 12S mitochondrial genes. The 33 eastern Pacific specimens analyzed represent four different species: Acus strigatus, Terebra argyosia, T. ornata, and T. cf. formosa. Anatomical analysis was congruent with molecular characters, confirming that species included in the clade Acus do not have a venom apparatus, while those in the clade Terebra do. Discovery of the association between terebrid molecular phylogeny and the occurrence of a venom apparatus provides a useful tool for effectively identifying the terebrid lineages that may be investigated for novel pharmacological active neurotoxins, enhancing conservation of this important resource, while providing supplementary information towards understanding terebrid evolutionary diversification.
Highlights
The auger snails are a distinctive group of carnivorous, sand-dwelling gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea, along with cone snails and turrids [1]
This paper examines the validity of correlating molecular phylogeny and venom apparatus by increasing the diversity of taxa sampled and the geographic coverage to include terebrid samples from the eastern Pacific
Distribution of the Panamic Terebridae The 33 Panamic specimens analyzed were assigned to four different terebrid species: Acus strigatus, Terebra argyosia, T. ornata, and T. cf. formosa
Summary
The auger snails (family Terebridae) are a distinctive group of carnivorous, sand-dwelling gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea, along with cone snails and turrids [1]. Species in this large gastropod superfamily (.10,000 species) generally use venom to capture their prey [2,3]. Conoidean venoms are of considerable interest as they are a rich source of neuroactive peptides, widely used to investigate cellular communication in the nervous system [4,5,6]. In contrast to cone snail toxins (conotoxins), terebrid toxins are largely uncharacterized and no physiological target for any terebrid venom peptide has been defined. Terebrid venoms are potentially a rich, unexplored pharmacological resource
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