Wilke, Tanja and Ahlrichs, Wilko H. and Bininda-Emonds, Olaf R. P. (2019) A weighted taxonomic matrix key for species of the rotifer genus Synchaeta (Rotifera, Monogononta, Synchaetidae). ZooKeys, 871. pp. 1-40. ISSN 1313-2989

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Abstract

A new, weighted matrix identification key for 34 largely undisputed species of Synchaeta was created with the aim of providing comparable, detailed and diagnostic character sets for each species that can be applied to live and/or preserved specimens. As part of this process, 14 species of Synchaeta were intensively re-investigated with respect to their habitus and trophi morphology using binocular, light, and scanning electron microscopy, which, together with behavioural observations, revealed several new discriminating characters. Whenever possible, missing information for any character was added for the remaining species from the literature, with the two recently described species Synchaeta arcifera and Synchaeta squamadigitata being considered for the first time in an identification key. Beyond its completeness, our key has two distinct advantages. First, the characters are supported by detailed illustrations of their respective character states whenever possible to both simplify identification and minimize any uncertainty in the descriptions themselves. Second, the new approach of weighting the characters according to their reliability, robustness and/or ease of determination was employed. This latter approach is especially advantageous for soft-bodied rotifers such as species of Synchaeta, where, for example, several external characters can be influenced by preservation and are therefore less diagnostic or reliable. Although the key is as comprehensive as possible, information for many species remains missing for many characters, thereby highlighting the need for additional comprehensive and detailed species (re-)investigations within Synchaeta.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Publiziert mit Hilfe des DFG-geförderten Open Access-Publikationsfonds der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Habitus, morphology, robust characters, species identification, swimming behaviour, trophi
Subjects:	Science and mathematics > Life sciences, biology Science and mathematics > Animals (zoology)
Divisions:	Faculty of Mathematics and Science > Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU)
Date Deposited:	19 Mar 2020 13:56
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2020 13:56
URI:	https://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/id/eprint/4522
URN:	urn:nbn:de:gbv:715-oops-46035
DOI:	doi:10.3897/zookeys.871.36435
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