Thesis
Assessing congruence between morphological and molecular data in Cyclopinae (Copepoda, Cyclopoida) copepods from inland waters in southern Western Australia
Honours, Murdoch University
2025
Abstract
Wetlands are among the most valuable and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Much of this diversity is driven by the abundance of invertebrates, which make up approximately two-thirds of the species present in wetlands. Although invertebrates contribute substantially to ecosystem functioning, they are often excluded from conservation planning, due in part to the unresolved taxonomic status of many species. This lack of information makes it difficult to assess the conservation status of species, which limits our understanding of invertebrate biodiversity. Cyclopinae Rafinesque, 1815 copepods are one group that is poorly represented in taxonomic literature despite being enormously abundant and diverse. Using morphological characters combined with gene sequence from the mitochondrial COI and nuclear 18S genes, this study assessed the congruence between genetic data and morphology-based species boundaries of cyclopine copepods from inland waters in southern Western Australia. Special attention was given to the fifth leg as it is widely regarded as a decisive morphological character for distinguishing between cyclopine genera. The results of this study showed that the morphological taxonomy of described species of cyclopine copepods in southern Western Australia is largely accurate. However, the results also recovered four putative Pescecyclops Karanovic, Eberhard & Murdoch, 2011 morphospecies as three discrete lineages, despite these species sharing similarities in fifth leg morphology. Overall, these findings highlight the limitations of using the fifth leg for discriminating between cyclopine genera and question if the Pescecyclops group as currently defined are monophyletic. This thesis represents a step forward in the development of molecular data for use in future studies of cyclopine copepods in Western Australia.
Details
- Title
- Assessing congruence between morphological and molecular data in Cyclopinae (Copepoda, Cyclopoida) copepods from inland waters in southern Western Australia
- Authors/Creators
- Dylan MacGregor
- Contributors
- Jennifer Chaplin (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Environmental and Conservation SciencesAdrian Pinder (Supervisor)Angus D'Arcy Lawrie (Supervisor) - Murdoch University
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Honours
- Identifiers
- 991005807948807891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
- Resource Type
- Thesis
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