Vol. 59, 2020 (update: 2020.01.30; 03.03) The Highest Chromosome Number and First Chromosome Fluorescent in situ Hybridization in the velvet worms of the family PeripatidaeDébora Duarte Dutra, Lívia Medeiros Cordeiro, Lucas Henrique Bonfim Souza, and Douglas Araujo* doi:10.6620/ZS.2020.59-05
Instituto
de Biociências, Cidade Universitária, Universidade Federal de Mato
Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Avenida Costa e Silva S/N, CEP 79070-900, Campo
Grande, Brazil. *Correspondence: E-mail: d.araujo@ufms.br Received 19 December 2019 / Accepted
22 January 2020 The
diversity of Onychophora is poorly studied, despite there being nearly
200 described species divided in two families: Peripatidae and
Peripatopsidae. Peripatid velvet worms are found mainly in the
Neotropical region. The low morphological diversity in Peripatidae is
an obstacle to determining its taxonomy, and chromosomal analyses can
help clarify this. The aim of this work was to chromosomally analyze
one species of Epiperipatus from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Conventional staining and telomeric fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed with the gonads of three males of Epiperipatus
sp. The specimens showed 2n♂ = 73, the largest diploid number found in
Onychophora to date, with the majority of chromosomes acro/telocentrics
and the largest element submetacentric. The FISH marked the Key words: Cryptic species, Epiperipatus, Karyotype, Heteromorphic chromosome, Interstitial Telomeric Site. Citation: Dutra DD, Souza LHB, Cordeiro LM, Araujo D. 2020. The highest chromosome number and first chromosome fluorescent in situ hybridization in the velvet worms of the family Peripatidae. Zool Stud 59:5. doi:10.6620/ZS.2020.59-05. |