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Abstract
Species identifications based on DNA barcoding rely on the correct identity of previously barcoded specimens, but little attention has been given to whether deposited barcodes include correspondence to the species' name-bearing type. The information content associated with COX1 sequences in the two most commonly used repositories of barcodes, GenBank and the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), is often insufficient for subsequent evaluation of the robustness of the identification procedure. We argue that DNA barcoding and taxonomy alike will benefit from more information content in the annotations of barcoded specimens as this will allow for validation and re-evaluation of the initial specimen identification. The aim should be to closely connect specimens from which reference barcodes are generated with the holotype through straight-forward taxonomy, and geographical and genetic correlations. Annotated information should also include voucher specimens and collector/identifier information. We examine two case studies based on empirical data, in which barcoding and taxonomy benefit from increased information content. On the basis of data from the first case study, we designate a barcoded neotype of the European medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, on morphological and geographical grounds.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Rob DeSalle for encouraging the writing of this paper. They are grateful to Anna Phillips, Ed Stanley, Jairo Arroyave and two anonymous reviewers for providing helpful comments that much improved an early draft of the manuscript. The authors are also grateful to Sara Eliasson and Stefan Lundberg for providing leeches and to Anna Ansebo for assistance with sequencing.
Declaration of interest: This contribution was funded by the Richard Gilder Graduate School fellowship and the Swedish-American Foundation fellowship to S.K., CONACyT scholarship 172322 and the Graduate Center Science fellowship (CUNY) to A.O.-F., NSF grant DEB-0640463 to M.E.S., and Swedish Research Council grant 621-2007-5313 to C.E. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.