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Devil in the Details: Systematic Revision of the Devil Crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes, Species Complex

Glon, Mael
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4121-995X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1629363482118186

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology.
The overarching goal of my dissertation is to ameliorate the North American primary burrowing crayfish taxonomic impediment by describing new species and revising taxonomic classifications. I specifically focus on revising the taxonomy of Cambarus diogenes and other members of what I provisionally term the Devil Crayfish Group (DCG) using an integrative taxonomic approach. My work elucidates the evolutionary relationships between the species in this group and generates a robust taxonomic framework that will help managers identify and prioritize species for conservation. In chapter 2, I take the first steps towards resolving the taxonomy of the DCG by testing the hypothesis that this group is monophyletic through phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequence data (mtDNA) from multiple specimens of the eight DCG species and a broad sampling of taxa representing approximately 70% of the species in what is currently recognized as the genus Cambarus. My analyses show that seven of the eight species from the DCG form a clade that is distinct from the remainder of what has traditionally been recognized as Cambarus. Based on these results and on unique morphological and ecological characteristics, I split seven of the eight DCG species from Cambarus and elevate the subgenus Lacunicambarus to generic rank to accommodate them. I redescribe Lacunicambarus and the devil crayfish sensu stricto (Lacunicambarus diogenes comb. nov.) and designate a neotype for the species to facilitate subsequent revisionary work. In chapters 3, 4 and 5, I continue my investigation of what is now the genus Lacunicambarus. In each case, I increase depth and breadth of my sampling as I gradually collect additional specimens to use in my morphological and molecular analyses. As my datasets increase in size, so too does my understanding of Lacunicambarus, allowing me to describe several new species. Specifically, in chapter 3, I describe the Crawzilla Crawdad, Lacunicambarus chimera, a species which was previously lumped in with L. diogenes. In chapter 4, I describe the Jewel Mudbug, Lacunicambarus dalyae, a remarkable species with unique morphological traits that allow me to differentiate it from the Paintedhand Mudbug, L. polychromatus. In chapter 5, I take a closer look at the systematics of the Rusty Gravedigger, L. miltus, which leads to the description of the Lonesome Gravedigger, L. mobilensis. During the course of that work, I also stumble upon and describe the Banded Mudbug, L. freudensteini. Chapters 2¬–5 relied on mtDNA, a helpful tool in systematics that allowed me to answer many but not all questions that I had about the systematics of Lacunicambarus. For instance, while mtDNA successfully resolves species-level clades, it does a poor job of resolving interspecific relationships. In chapter 6, I resolve the phylogeny of Lacunicambarus using a sophisticated and powerful genetic method called anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE). This method generates the best supported phylogeny of Lacunicambarus to date and elucidates interspecific relationships within the genus. I use this new phylogeny to investigate discrepancies between mtDNA and AHE data and to contextualize the newly resolved interspecific relationships within the genus. I also redescribe two species, L. nebrascensis and L. erythrodactylus, whose taxonomic validity was uncertain until this point.
Marymegan Daly (Advisor)
Rachelle Adams (Committee Member)
Catherine Montalto (Committee Member)
John Freudenstein (Advisor)
315 p.
Animals; Biology; Ecology; Environmental Science; Evolution and Development; Systematic; Zoology
crayfish; lacunicambarus; systematics; taxonomy; conservation; mudbug; crawfish; crawdad; burrowing crayfish

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Glon, M. (2021). Devil in the Details: Systematic Revision of the Devil Crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes, Species Complex [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1629363482118186

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Glon, Mael. Devil in the Details: Systematic Revision of the Devil Crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes, Species Complex. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1629363482118186.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Glon, Mael. "Devil in the Details: Systematic Revision of the Devil Crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes, Species Complex." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1629363482118186

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1629363482118186
279
© 2021, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Devil in the Details: Systematic Revision of the Devil Crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes, Species Complex by Mael Glon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.