Filogenia molecular de Copépodes encontrados na praia do náutico (Fortaleza, Ce), com ênfase na espécie invasora Temora turbinata (DANA, 1849)

Abstract

The crustaceans belonging to Copepoda class form a very diverse group and represent about 90% of the zooplankton found in the marine environment. The advancement of molecular tools has transformed the study of marine biology and in recent years, the copepods have been cataloged and identified through a "barcoding" strategy, based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI). Databases available online allow comparison between experimental sequences and cataloged sequences. This study aimed to characterize species of copepods from the coast of Ceará State, including the invasive species Temora turbinata, through partial sequences of COI and evaluate the taxonomic status of some groups of copepods available in world databases. We obtained 15 sequences of copepods from Ceará, comprising the species: Temora turbinata, Acartia lilljeborgii, Parvocalanus crassirostris, Pseudodiaptomus acutus, Caligus sp. and Centropages furcatus. In addition, 168 sequences of copepods available on line in GenBank were analyzed. Analyzes were carried out using 35 species belonging to 20 genera. The level of intraspecific variation ranged from 0 to 18.7% and among congeneric species ranged from 0.4 to 19.5%. The higher frequency of intraspecific variation was 0- 5%, including 25 species. In general, the values are within the range of variability found by other authors, except for the genus Calanus, which showed a variability of 0.4%, much lower than what is usually found within copepod genera. The analysis of the partial sequences of COI mitochondrial gene from different groups of copepods suggests that there are taxonomic problems to be solved. From the available data, the species T. turbinata presented an extremely low genetic variability, which is consistent with previously published data for the genus. However, its taxonomic status is questioned.