Project description:In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Solenocera crassicornis was amplified and analyzed. The mitogenome is 15,946?bp in length, encoding the standard set of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes and two rRNA genes. The overall A?+?T content is 67.67%; nucleotide frequency of the mitogenome is as follows: A, 32.00%; C, 11.14%; G, 21.19%; and T, 35.67%. There were 16 non-coding regions throughout the mitogenome of S. crassicornis ranged from 1 to 1,005?bp in size, of which the largest was between tRNAIle and 12S rRNA. The complete mitogenome sequence information of S. crassicornis would play an important part for further studies on molecular systematics and phylogeny.
Project description:Hermissenda crassicornis is a model organism used in various fields of research including neurology, ecology, pharmacology, and toxicology. In order to investigate the systematics of this species and the presence of cryptic species in H. crassicornis, we conducted a comprehensive molecular and morphological analysis of this species covering its entire range across the North Pacific Ocean. We determined that H. crassicornis constitutes a species complex of three distinct species. The name Hermissensa crassicornis is retained for the northeast Pacific species, occurring from Alaska to Northern California. The name H. opalescens is reinstated for a species occurring from the Sea of Cortez to Northern California. Finally, the name H. emurai is maintained for the northwestern species, found in Japan and in the Russian Far East. These three species have consistent morphological and color pattern differences that can be used for identification in the field.