Abstract
In the present study we used an integrative taxonomic approach that combines morphological and DNA barcoding data to describe a new species, Dina serbica sp. nov. from a spring in western Serbia. The average K2P-distance between DNA-barcode sequences of D. serbica sp. nov. and its closest relative D. minuoculata was estimated at 11.96±1.39%. Moreover, the ASAP (assemble species by automatic partitioning) species-delimitation method based on COI sequences from our study and sequences of Dina species from GenBank supported the species-status of D. serbica sp. nov. The first DNA barcoding data for D. dinarica (Sket, 1968), D. montana (Sket, 1968), D. minuoculata Grosser, Moritz & Pešić, 2007 and D. prokletijaca Grossser & Pešić, 2016 were uploaded into the Barcode of Life DataSystems database. The study confirmed the efficiency of a standard molecular COI marker in identification of Dina leeches, emphasising the need for additional morphological and molecular analysis of species of this genus in the Balkans.
Highlights
The genus Dina Blanchard, 1892 includes medium to large sized leeches distributed across the Western Palearctic (Neubert and Nesemann 1999), inhabiting different types of running and standing waters
The sequence representing Dina serbica sp. nov. is reconstructed as a sister branch to the clade grouping COI sequences found in D. minuoculata
The clade formed by D. serbica sp. nov. and D. minuoculata was placed as the sister group of a clade grouping sequences of D. latestriata
Summary
The genus Dina Blanchard, 1892 includes medium to large sized leeches distributed across the Western Palearctic (Neubert and Nesemann 1999), inhabiting different types of running and standing waters. According to Neubert and Nesemann (1999), the genus consists of three morphologically welldefined groups, i.e., D. lineata, D. ohridana and D. absoloni-group. The latter group includes the stygobiotic Dina absoloni Johansson, 1913, which inhabits the southeastern parts of the Dinaric region (Grosser et al 2015b), and D. latestriata Neubert and Nesemann, 1995, a species originally described from the shallow littoral zone of Lake Prespa in North Macedonia (Neubert and Nesemann 1995). Dina ohridana-complex includes a number of endemic species known from the ancient Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia and adjacent region (Neubert and Nesemann 1999). The phylogenetic relationships, as well as the spatial and temporal speciation of leeches of the latter complex in Lake Ohrid were studied by Trajanovski et al (2010)
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