University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2018 An investigation of Onychophora (velvet worms) of the Illawarra region C Chapman Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/thsci University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. 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For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] An investigation of Onychophora (velvet worms) of the Illawarra region Abstract Onychophorans are a fascinating phylum of terrestrial invertebrates that form a group with the Arthropoda and Tardigrada known as Panarthropoda (Campbell et al. 2011). Diversity among the Onychophora has been grossly underestimated as their conserved morphology results in the prevalence of cryptic species, whereby two or more species may be grouped under one species name if gross morphology alone has been used as the only means of identification. In ecentr years, more detailed morphological analyses and the application of molecular analyses has shed more light on diversity among the Onychophora. Within this phylum, two families have been recognised, the Peripatopsidae and Peripatidae, with a lack of any higher taxonomic ranks. The family Peripatopsidae are found in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and New Guinea and currently consists of many monotypic genera. One of these, Anoplokaros, with its single species Anoplokaros keerensis Reid, 1996, was originally suggested to comprise a likely cryptic species-complex (Reid 1996). This hypothesis was tested within this study, employing an integrative taxonomic approach, involving both molecular and morphological analyses. It was revealed that three putative novel species are present within the Illawarra region, that were previously believed to be populations of A. keerensis. Unique morphological characters were observed in most of the populations examined, although these were not necessarily congruent with the mtDNA COI sequences. Morphological descriptions were also prepared for additional specimens that were not included in the phylogenetic analyses that could be used as a baseline to facilitate future revisions of these putative A. keerensis populations. Degree Type Thesis Degree Name BEnviSci Hons Department School of Earth & Environmental Sciences Advisor(s) James Wallman Keywords Onychophorans, A. keerensis This thesis is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/thsci/165 An investigation of Onychophora (velvet worms) of the Illawarra region Christie Chapman Supervisors: Prof. James Wallman and Dr Mandy Reid A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health The University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia October 2018 DECLARATION The information in this thesis is entirely the result of investigations conducted by the author, unless otherwise acknowledged, and has not been submitted in part, or otherwise, for any other degree or qualification. Signed: CHRISTIE CHAPMAN Date: 23/10/2018 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my supervisors, James Wallman and Mandy Reid, who provided an unlimited amount guidance and feedback throughout my project, which allowed me to develop new scientific skills. Your passion for biology has inspired me to pursue a career in taxonomic research one day. I also need to thank you for giving me the motivation and drive to succeed, and to finish this project with a feeling of pride and accomplishment, rather than exhaustion. I would also like to acknowledge Andrew King and Ingo Burghardt for your aid in the lab. You taught me the fundamentals of DNA extractions and amplifications, and provided comprehensive assistance with troubleshooting, especially when I had no idea what I was doing. I started this project with minimal knowledge on how DNA is extracted and amplified, but now I can comfortably and independently conduct these procedures with efficiency. Additionally, I need to thank Tracey Gibson for providing excellent troubleshooting assistance and feedback with interpreting gel electrophoresis results. I also need to thank Blake Dawson and Nathan Butterworth for providing quick and comprehensive feedback whenever it was needed and helping with field work. A special thanks to Nikolas Johnston for teaching and assisting me with detailed phylogenetic analyses, along with simple concepts such as protein translation. You all helped enormously by helping to fix any mistakes before James or Mandy got to see them. I’d like to thank Jim Lewis for giving me a huge amount of support and spending countless hours flipping over logs and searching through leaf litter with me. I also need to thank others who assisted with field work including Braden Riles, Ian Bool, Thomas Burley, Sabrina Velasco, Cindy Chapman and Chloe Chapman. I would also like to thank the staff at the Australian Museum Research Institute and Macquarie University for providing a welcoming environment and laboratory facilities and equipment. Thank you to Chao Shen and Sue Lindsay for helping me operate the Scanning Electron Microscope. I also need to thank Fredrica Turco from the Australian National Insect Collection and Graham Milledge at the Australian Museum for the loan of specimens from their collections. Thank you to Marina McGlinn for always taking great care of your honours students by providing delicious sandwiches and various emails making sure we are progressing and sleeping well. iii ABSTRACT Onychophorans are a fascinating phylum of terrestrial invertebrates that form a group with the Arthropoda and Tardigrada known as Panarthropoda (Campbell et al. 2011). Diversity among the Onychophora has been grossly underestimated as their conserved morphology results in the prevalence of cryptic species, whereby two or more species may be grouped under one species name if gross morphology alone has been used as the only means of identification. In recent years, more detailed morphological analyses and the application of molecular analyses has shed more light on diversity among the Onychophora. Within this phylum, two families have been recognised, the Peripatopsidae and Peripatidae, with a lack of any higher taxonomic ranks. The family Peripatopsidae are found in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and New Guinea and currently consists of many monotypic genera. One of these, Anoplokaros, with its single species Anoplokaros keerensis Reid, 1996, was originally suggested to comprise a likely cryptic species-complex (Reid 1996). This hypothesis was tested within this study, employing an integrative taxonomic approach, involving both molecular and morphological analyses. It was revealed that three putative novel species are present within the Illawarra region, that were previously believed to be populations of A. keerensis. Unique morphological characters were observed in most of the populations examined, although these were not necessarily congruent with the mtDNA COI sequences. Morphological descriptions were also prepared for additional specimens that were not included in the phylogenetic analyses that could be used as a baseline to facilitate future revisions of these putative A. keerensis populations. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION...................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... viii 1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................