Freshwater snails in the family Bithyniidae are the first intermediate host for Southeast Asian liver fluke (Opisthorchis viverrini), the causative agent of opisthorchiasis. Unfortunately, the subtle morphological characters that differentiate species in this group are not easily discerned by non-specialists. This is a serious matter because the identification of bithyniid species is a fundamental prerequisite for better understanding of the epidemiology of this disease. Because DNA barcoding, the analysis of sequence diversity in the 5’ region of the mitochondrial COI gene, has shown strong performance in other taxonomic groups, we decided to test its capacity to resolve 10 species/ subspecies of bithyniids from Thailand. Our analysis of 217 specimens indicated that COI sequences delivered species-level identification for 9 of 10 currently recognized species. The mean intraspecific divergence of COI was 2.3% (range 0-9.2 %), whereas sequence divergences between congeneric species averaged 8.7% (range 0-22.2 %). Although our results indicate that DNA barcoding can differentiate species of these medically-important snails, we also detected evidence for the presence of one overlooked species and one possible case of synonymy.

Heterochromatin distribution and chromosomal rearrangements have been proposed as the main sources of karyotype differences among species of Neotropical primates. This variability suggests that there could be differences at other smaller‐scale levels of DNA organization as well. In particular, quantitative differences between genomes result from gains and losses of individual DNA segments, and may result in varying genome sizes (C‐values) among species. In this work, we studied the genomes of 23 individuals from four species in the genus Ateles (Primates: Platyrrhini): A. chamek, A. paniscus, A. belzebuth, and A. geoffroyi. We analyzed genome size and its relationship with the presence of chromosomal rearrangements and patterns of heterochromatin distribution. The C‐value presented in this work for Ateles chamek is the first estimate for this species (3.09 ± 0.23 pg), whereas our estimates for A. belzebuth (2.88 ± 0.06 pg) and A. geoffroyi (3.19 ± 0.24 pg) differed from those previously published. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and interspecies comparativegenomic hybridization (iCGH) analyses revealed that differences in genome size among species relate to localized blocks in both heterochromatic and euchromatic regions, the latter of which appear to be genetically unstable. There were also quantitative differences in Y chromosome content. It remains to be seen whether the chromosomal characteristics of Ateles here discussed are common to platyrrhine monkeys, but it is clear that these monkeys exhibit some intriguing genomic features worthy of additional exploration.

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) monitors large-scale responses of biodiversity to environmental change in Alberta, Canada, based on standardized and ongoing data collection. In this case study, we show that such a standardized monitoring system has many data management challenges. In the almost 20 years since the conception of the Institute, we have identified 4 key characteristics that are required for large-scale, long-term biodiversity monitoring programs to be operational: 1) data must be publicly accessible; 2) methods and terminology must be standardized to facilitate consistency around data and information collection, analysis, and reporting; 3) the information system must be flexible so that components can be modified or added without compromising the functionality of the other components or the whole system; and 4) the system must be scalable so that it can support input, storage, and retrieval as data load increases. These characteristics are important to ensure that the products and tools generated from our monitoring program can support management at large spatial scales in the complex socio-ecological system of Alberta. Ó 2015 The Wildlife Society.