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The flightless marine midge Pontomyia (Diptera: Chironomidae): ecology, distribution, and molecular phylogeny
Huang, D.; Cheng, L. (2011). The flightless marine midge Pontomyia (Diptera: Chironomidae): ecology, distribution, and molecular phylogeny. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 162(2): 443-456. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00680.x
In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Academic Press: London. ISSN 0024-4082; e-ISSN 1096-3642, more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keywords
    Acids > Organic compounds > Organic acids > Nucleic acids > DNA
    Distribution
    Geography > Biogeography
    Phylogenetics
    Taxa > Species
    Chironomidae [WoRMS]; Diptera [WoRMS]; Insecta [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    biogeography; cryptic species; DNA barcoding; insecta; phylogenetics;species tree

Authors  Top 
  • Huang, D.
  • Cheng, L., more

Abstract
    em>Pontomyia Edwards, 1926 (Diptera: Chironomidae) is a genus of exclusively marine flightless midges. There are four described species from the Indo-Pacific, and one undescribed species known only from females, pupal skins, and larvae from the Atlantic/Caribbean. They are poorly known owing to their small size (∼1.0 mm), extremely short adult life (< 3 h), and unusual habitat for an insect (coastal lagoons, bays, or rock pools). We reviewed scattered literature on their biology and systematics, presented photomicrographs of the male hypogium, and updated the geographic distribution of each species. We carried out the first molecular study to elucidate relationships among and within three of the species. Results from our four-gene phylogenetic reconstruction using combined gene tree and species tree approaches showed that Pontomyia natans, Pontomyia oceana, and Pontomyia pacifica are each well-supported clades, with P. natans as sister to P. oceana + P. pacifica. Genetic distances based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I are extraordinarily large within P. natans and P. pacifica, which suggests that they may be cryptic species complexes.

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