Clarification of the taxonomic status of Acanthochitonadiscrepans (Brown, 1827) with new data for the North-East Atlantic Acanthochitona (Polyplacophora, Acanthochitonidae)

Katarzyna Vončina; Nina Therese Mikkelsen; Christine Morrow; Rory Ang; Julia D Sigwart

doi:10.3897/BDJ.11.e109554

Clarification of the taxonomic status of Acanthochitonadiscrepans (Brown, 1827) with new data for the North-East Atlantic Acanthochitona (Polyplacophora, Acanthochitonidae)

Biodivers Data J. 2023 Nov 28:11:e109554. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e109554. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Katarzyna Vončina¹, Nina Therese Mikkelsen², Christine Morrow³, Rory Ang⁴, Julia D Sigwart¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main Germany.
² Department of Natural History, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Department of Natural History, University of Bergen Bergen Norway.
³ Queen's University Marine Laboratory, Queen's University, Portaferry, Ireland Queen's University Marine Laboratory, Queen's University Portaferry Ireland.
⁴ University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom University of Exeter Exeter United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: The genus Acanthochitona can be easily distinguished from other chitons by having eighteen tufts of bristles on the dorsal side of the densely spiculose girdle. In the North-East Atlantic, five species of this genus have been recognised so far: A.crinita (Pennant, 1777), A.discrepans (Brown, 1827), A.fascicularis (Linnaeus, 1767), A.oblonga Leloup, 1968 and A.pilosa Schmidt-Petersen, Schwabe et Haszprunar, 2015. The nomenclature of A.crinita, A.discrepans and A.fascicularis was confused for a very long time until Kaas (1985) designated type specimens for them and provided a brief key. However, his work lacked detailed descriptions of the three species and some authors doubted that A.discrepans constitutes a separate species. Subsequently, the taxonomic status of A.discrepans has remained unclear.

New information: Here, we implemented an integrative approach which combined morphology and molecular evidence to show that Acanthochitonadiscrepans is, indeed, a valid species and we present re-descriptions for A.crinita, A.discrepans and A.fascicularis.

Keywords: Acanthochitona; North-East Atlantic chitons; geographic ranges; integrative taxonomy.

Katarzyna Vončina, Nina Therese Mikkelsen, Christine Morrow, Rory Ang, Julia D. Sigwart.