Updating Biodiversity Studies in Loricate Protists: The Case of the Tintinnids (Alveolata, Ciliophora, Spirotrichea)

作者：Luciana F. Santoferrara, Charles Bachy, Viviana A. Alder, Jun Gong, YOUNG‐OK KIM, Alessandro Saccà, Inácio Domingos da Silva‐Neto, Michaela C. Strüder‐Kypke, Alan Warren, Dapeng Xu, Zhenzhen Yi, Sabine Agatha · 发表于：Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.1111/jeu.12303 · 被引用次数：66 · 研究领域：Protist diversity and phylogeny、Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology、Marine Ecology and Invasive Species

Species determination is crucial in biodiversity research. In tintinnids, identification is based almost exclusively on the lorica, despite its frequent intraspecific variability and interspecific similarity. We suggest updated procedures for identification and, depending on the aim of the study, further steps to obtain morphological, molecular, and ecological data. Our goal is to help improving the collection of information (e.g. species re-/descriptions and DNA barcodes) that is essential for generating a natural tintinnid classification and a reliable reference for environmental surveys. These suggestions are broadly useful for protistologists because they exemplify data integration, quality/effort compromise, and the need for scientific collaborations.