Meeting Abstract
Aplacophora is an ecologically important and phylogenetically significant clade of worm-shaped marine molluscs. Basic questions about aplacophoran biodiversity and evolution, such as the number of species, evolutionary relationships, and ancestral states of key characters remain unanswered. The number of aplacophoran taxonomists, which has always been small, has declined in recent years. Meanwhile, known but undescribed species and specimens collected in environmental surveys that remain unidentified continue to grow in number. Specimen identification often requires the labor-intensive process of histology, but newer technologies such as micro-CT scanning and DNA barcoding could significantly accelerate this process. I will present on a new project aimed at dramatically accelerating the pace of the study of aplacophoran biodiversity and systematics while training the next generation of malacologists. Specimen identification will employ a novel workflow combining stereo light microscopy, micro-CT, and SEM of whole specimens, DNA barcoding, and compound light microscopy of permanent sclerite mounts – all from the same animal. Goals of this project include identification of thousands of specimens, description of >50 new species, characterization of the faunas of particularly diverse and understudied regions, monographs for select taxa in need of revision, and production of a reference DNA barcode library. Further, the first aplacophoran genomes will be sequenced, enabling target-capture phylogenomics. A well-resolved and broadly sampled phylogenetic framework will make possible a revised classification that accurately reflects the group’s evolutionary history as well as ancestral state reconstruction of key traits for Aplacophora, Aculifera, and Mollusca as a whole.
