Diversity and biogeography of Diopatra bristle worms (Onuphidae, Polychaeta) in Eastern Atlantic M.Sc project Supervisors: Nataliya Budaeva, Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (Nov. 2013 – Oct. 2015) Endre Willassen, Professor Research Group: Phylogenetics Systematics and Evolution Project background: Onuphid polychaetes are tube dwelling worms inhabiting various biotopes worldwide and often reaching extremely high densities. Diopatra is a monophyletic and the most species-rich genus (about 50 spp.) within the family Onuphidae (Budaeva & Fauchald, 2011). It is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical shallow waters and very common in the intertidal zone. The genus has a number of morphological autapomorphies such as spiral gills and complex brush-like tubes. Nonetheless the taxonomy of Diopatra is poorly developed due to high degree of variation in morphological characters traditionally used in the species diagnoses. Recently the University Museum of Bergen has received an extensive collection of marine invertebrates from the waters of Western Africa (from Morocco to Angola). The samples have been obtained during a number of cruises by R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen in cooperation with the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) and Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and are suitable for morphological and molecular analyses. At least 10 morphotypes of Diopatra have been preliminary found within the collected material. Several species have been originally described from African Waters (Augener, 1919; Kirkegaard, 1988; Paxton et al., 1995). However, as common for all early taxonomical descriptions, information on intraspecific variation is limited and species determination is difficult. A number of taxonomical and ecological studies on Diopatra utilizing morphological and molecular approaches have been performed recently in South-Western Europe (Rodrigues et al., 2009; Berke, et al., 2010; Pires et al., 2012; Fauchald et al., 2012). Published data will significantly aid in species identification, lab work design and analysis of species distribution. Objectives: To revise material on Diopatra from Western African waters and identify morphotypes based on the analysis of chaeta morphology and distribution, development and distribution of gills, structure of sensory organs; To sequence mitochondrial genes COI and Cytb for selected morphotypes; To test the congruence between traditional and molecular taxonomy in Diopatra; To perform complete species descriptions of all studied taxa; To asses the geographical ranges of Diopatra species in Eastern Atlantic based on newly obtained genetic and morphological data and recently published information. Acquired competences: Systematics of polychaetes based on morphology (light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, digital photography, scientific illustrations, species descriptions, zoological nomenclature); Molecular-based systematics (DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, sequencing; editing and aligning of molecular sequences) Phylogenetic analysis (Model test, Bayesian inference, Maximum Likelihood, Parsimony). Place of work: Natural History Collections - Realfagbygget/ DNA lab –BIOblock A Contact information: [email protected] Tel. 55 58 46 82 Related links: http://miwa.b.uib.no/ http://www.uib.no/universitymuseum/natural-history/collections/zoological-collections/invertebrate- collections/west-african-benthic-samples http://invertebrate.b.uib.no/ Literature Augener H. 1918. Polychaeta. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Meeresfauna Westafrikas, 2: 67–625. Berke S.K., Mahon A.R., Lima F.P., Halanych K.M., Wethey D.S., Woodin S.A. 2010. Range shifts and species diversity in marine ecosystem engineers: patterns and predictions for European sedimentary habitats. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 19: 223–232. Budaeva N., Fauchald K. 2011. Phylogeny of the Diopatra generic complex with a revision of Paradiopatra Ehlres, 1887 (Polychaeta: Onuphidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163: 319–436. Fauchald K., Berke S.K., Woodin S.A. 2012. Diopatra (Onuphidae: Polychaeta) from intertidal sediments in southwestern Europe. Zootaxa, 3395: 47–58. Kirkegaard J.B. 1988. The polychaeta of West Africa. Part II. Errant species. 2. Nephtyidae to Dorvilleidae. Atlantide Report, 14: 1-82. Paxton H., Fadlaoui S., Lechapt J.-P. 1995. Diopatra marocensis, a new brooding species of Onuphidae (Annelida: Polychaeta). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 75:949–955. Pires A., Paxton H., Quintino V., Rodrigues A. M. 2010. Diopatra (Annelida: Onuphidae) diversity in European waters with the description of Diopatra micrura, new species. Zootaxa, 2395: 17–33. Rodrigues A.M., Pires A., Mendo S., Quintino V. 2009. Diopatra neapolitana and D. marocensis from the Portuguese coast: morphological and genetic comparison. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 85: 609–617. .