A general limitation of ecological investigations based on nematodes is related to the difficult and time-consuming taxonomic identification of species. The implementation of molecular techniques has certainly created new perspectives, making nematode identification easier and faster, but “drawbacks” are still present and more user-friendly methods of data exploration are needed. Accordingly, an alternative approach to detect changes of the nematode assemblage structure was evaluated in five study cases in the Mediterranean Sea. The study areas included commercial ports, marinas (Ligurian Sea), fish-farms (Tyrrhenian Sea) and urban riverine discharges (Central Adriatic Sea). In detail, we suggested a combination of morpho-functional traits (i.e., amphid, cuticle, buccal cavity, and tail shape) as an alternative to the taxonomic identification of marine free-living nematodes. The results of the statistical analyses revealed that the simple combination of the four traits in a single code number may perfectly mirror the taxonomic structure of the nematode assemblage at the genus level and we, therefore, predict that similar results can be also obtained directly encoding nematode specimens with the four selected traits. This approach might greatly speed the analyses of nematode fauna in biomonitoring programs as well as represent a cheaper alternative to other approaches currently used. When it was evaluated the possible occurrence of specific combinations of morpho-functional traits in polluted sediments, a combination of traits ascribable to Xyalidae, Linhomoeidae and Chromadoridae was detected.
Assessment of the ecological status of tropical subtidal substrata using the taxonomic and functional nematode diversity
Semprucci F.;Grassi E.;Balsamo M
2022
Abstract
A general limitation of ecological investigations based on nematodes is related to the difficult and time-consuming taxonomic identification of species. The implementation of molecular techniques has certainly created new perspectives, making nematode identification easier and faster, but “drawbacks” are still present and more user-friendly methods of data exploration are needed. Accordingly, an alternative approach to detect changes of the nematode assemblage structure was evaluated in five study cases in the Mediterranean Sea. The study areas included commercial ports, marinas (Ligurian Sea), fish-farms (Tyrrhenian Sea) and urban riverine discharges (Central Adriatic Sea). In detail, we suggested a combination of morpho-functional traits (i.e., amphid, cuticle, buccal cavity, and tail shape) as an alternative to the taxonomic identification of marine free-living nematodes. The results of the statistical analyses revealed that the simple combination of the four traits in a single code number may perfectly mirror the taxonomic structure of the nematode assemblage at the genus level and we, therefore, predict that similar results can be also obtained directly encoding nematode specimens with the four selected traits. This approach might greatly speed the analyses of nematode fauna in biomonitoring programs as well as represent a cheaper alternative to other approaches currently used. When it was evaluated the possible occurrence of specific combinations of morpho-functional traits in polluted sediments, a combination of traits ascribable to Xyalidae, Linhomoeidae and Chromadoridae was detected.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.