Perlidae (Plecoptera) from the Paranapiacaba Mountains, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: Diversity and implications of the integrative approach and teneral specimens on taxonomy.

Lucas Henrique De Almeida,Pitágoras Da Conceição Bispo,Michael Schubert

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243393

Lucas Henrique De Almeida, Pitágoras Da Conceição Bispo + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243393

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Abstract

The study of complementary sources of biological variation (e.g. morphological, molecular) has allowed a better understanding of biodiversity through the construction of an integrative taxonomy. Using this approach, specimens from the Paranapiacaba Mountains, southeastern Brazil, were studied to update the knowledge on the stonefly family Perlidae from the region, characterize the species, and make associations between nymphs and adults using a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. The study also discusses the implications of integrative taxonomy and teneral specimens for the study of South American Perlidae. The molecular data were analyzed using Bayesian inference, Neighbor-joining, and delimiting species methods. Our results revealed that, in general, there was a morphological and molecular congruence between species. In the Paranapiacaba Mountains, three genera and 15 species were recorded: Anacroneuria boraceiensis Froehlich 2004, A. debilis (Pictet 1841) (new record), A. fiorentini De Ribeiro and Froehlich 2007 (new record), A. flintorum Froehlich 2002, A. iporanga Bispo and Froehlich 2004, A. itajaimirim Bispo and Froehlich 2004, A. polita (Burmeister 1913), A. subcostalis Klapálek 1921, A. tupi Bispo and Froehlich 2004 (with a description of the nymph), Kempnyia auberti Froehlich 1996, K. colossica (Navás 1934), K. flava Klapálek 1916, K. neotropica (Jacobson and Bianchi 1905) (including its new junior synonym K. petersorum Froehlich 1996), Kempnyia sp., and Macrogynoplax veneranda Froehlich 1984. COI sequences were obtained for 11 species, five of which had nymphs associated with adults. Among the five associated nymphs, the nymph of A. tupi is described here. The results of this study indicate that the color of adult teneral specimens differs from that of mature specimens. Given this, the synonym of K. neotropica and K. petersorum was proposed since these species have high morphological and molecular similarities and differ only in color patterns. In addition, the previous record of A. petersi Froehlich 2002 from the Paranapiacaba Mountains was invalidated since it was considered a teneral specimen of A. flintorum. These results suggest that the development of an integrative taxonomy is essential to continue advancing the study of Perlidae diversity in South America.

Highlights

There are about 3700 species of stoneflies (Plecoptera) described in 16 families [1], among them about 500 species are found in South America [2]
Most specimens were collected by Lucas Henrique de Almeida (LHA), Pitagoras da Conceicão Bispo (PCB), Claudio Gilberto Froehlich (CGF), Adriano Sanches Melo (ASM), Henrique Paprocki (HP), Lucas Silveira Lecci (LSL), and Vera Lucia Crisci-Bispo (VLCB)
Visual inspection of the c oxidase subunit I (COI) trees (Bayesian and Neighbor-joining) and the results of delimiting species methods (ABGD, Poisson Tree Processes (PTP), and Bayesian implementation of the Poisson Tree Processes (bPTP)) revealed that the clusters of the specimens were mostly consistent with the species previously defined by morphology (Fig 2)

Summary

Introduction

There are about 3700 species of stoneflies (Plecoptera) described in 16 families [1], among them about 500 species (six families) are found in South America [2]. In Brazil, there are about 200 species in eight genera and two families (Gripopterygidae and Perlidae) [2, 3]. Within Perlidae, Anacroneuria has been recorded from the southern United States to northern Argentina [11] and is the most diverse genus of the family, with more than 380 species described [2], more than 80 of which are from Brazil. Enderleina is distributed in Venezuela and north of Brazil and includes nine species, with seven from Brazil [11, 12]. Macrogynoplax, which has been recorded from northern South America (Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Peru, northern Brazil) to the southeast of Brazil, includes 16 species, eight of which are in Brazil [11, 16, 17]

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