DNA barcoding reveals neritid diversity (Mollusca: Gastropoda) diversity in Malaysian waters

Abstract

This is the first study to identify and determine the phylogenetics of neritids found in Malaysia. In total, twelve species from the family Neritidae were recorded. Ten species were from the genus Nerita and two species were from the genus Neritina. DNA barcodes were successfully assigned to each species. Although some of these species were previously reported in the region, three are only presently reported in this study. The dendrogram showed Nerita and Neritina strongly supported in their respective monophyletic clades. Phylogenetic positions of some species appeared unstable in the trees. This could be due to the differences in a small number of nucleotides, thus minimizing genetic variation between each specimen and species.

• COI
• Nerita
• Neritina

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank staff and students of CEMACS, Universiti Sains Malaysia and AORI, The University of Tokyo for their invaluable advice and help. Special thanks to Professor Geoffrey K. Chambers, Dr Melissa Frey, Associate Professor Dr Yasunori Kano and Dr Hiroaki Fukumori for helpful comments.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding was provided by Universiti Sains Malaysia Research Grant Number 1001/PPANTAI/844068.