Diversity of free-living marine nematodes: integrative taxonomy of family Cyatholaimidae

• Grant number: 17/21986-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Antonia Cecília Zacagnini Amaral
• Grantee: Beatriz Pereira Cunha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The benthic communities of the Brazilian coast are among the most threatened by human activities, and yet the study of these organisms is still incipient, particularly with regard to marine meiofauna. The Nematoda phylum represents one of the most abundant and diverse groups of the meiobentos and can be a good model for monitoring environmental impacts, including effects of climate change process. However, the group is little studied taxonomically because of the high diversity, the absence of conspicuous morphological characters and the deficit of specialists. Integrative taxonomy is a promising but underused way of expanding knowledge about the group. The present proposal intends to evaluate in an integrative way morphological and molecular data, by means of statistical analyses, seeking to find homologous characters and to help in the taxonomic organization of the family Cyatholaimidae, one of the most abundant free-living marine nematodes. Sampling will be carried out in beaches and estuaries along the coast of the State of São Paulo, which presents a great heterogeneity of habitats and consequent potential to shelter new species for science. The collected Cyatholaimidae species will be evaluated morphologically with an optical and scanning microscope and the molecular data will be obtained by sequencing the D2-D3 regions of the 28S and V1-V2 of the 18S gene. From the molecular phylogeny obtained, different statistical methods of reconstruction of the ancestral state will be used to trace the evolution of definite characters, and to evaluate the relative importance of the same to the classification. The proposal also aim to describe possible new species and increase the knowledge of marine biodiversity of State of São Paulo.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

OLIVEIRA, NILVEA RAMALHO; CUNHA, BEATRIZ PEREIRA; VILAS-BOAS, ANA CAROLINA; GALLUCCI, FABIANE; MONTEIRO, LUANA; CUSTODIO, MARCIO REIS; FONSECA, GUSTAVO. Establishing the baselines of Diplolaimella dievengatensis (Nematoda: Monhysteridae) for life-history experiments. ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER, v. 293, p. 303-313, JUL 2021. (17/21986-2, 09/14019-0, 09/11808-3)

CUNHA, BEATRIZ P.; FONSECA, GUSTAVO; AMARAL, A. CECILIA Z.. Diversity and Distribution of Cyatholaimidae (Chromadorida: Nematoda): A Taxonomic and Systematic Review of the World Records. FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, v. 9, p. 21-pg., 2022-03-18. (18/10313-0, 17/21986-2)

VENEKEY, VIRAG; GHELLER, PAULA F.; KANDRATAVICIUS, NOELIA; CUNHA, BEATRIZ PEREIRA; VILAS-BOAS, ANA CAROLINA; FONSECA, GUSTAVO; MARIA, TATIANA F.. The state of the art of Chromadoridae (Nematoda, Chromadorida): a historical review, diagnoses and comments about valid and dubious genera and a list of valid species. Zootaxa, v. 4578, n. 1, p. 1-67, APR 9 2019. (17/21986-2)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CUNHA, Beatriz Pereira. Diversidade de nematodas marinhos de vida livre: taxonomia e sistemática da família Cyatholaimidae. 2023. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia Campinas, SP.