Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Takobia Novikova & Kluge, 1987 (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) in Central Asia

Abstract

Based on the original type material, the nymphal stage of the mayfly Takobia maxillare is redescribed; in parallel, a lectotype is designated. Takobia maxillare is the type species of the genus Takobia, and an accurate and complete knowledge of its morphology is crucial to the delimitation of this problematic genus and clarification of its phylogenetic affinities. Ambiguous characters, previously reported for this species in the literature are clarified. Furthermore, two new species in the same genus are described, namely Takobia sinusopalpatasp. nov. and Takobia shughnonicasp. nov. based on the morphology of nymphs from Central Asia, supplemented with COI sequences. Implications for the systematics of Takobia and related taxa are discussed and the need for an extensive phylogenetic study of this group is stressed.

Two new species of Alainites (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) from the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot

“…On the other hand, each of the sequences of the new species is at least 19% different from any other Alainites, Nigrobaetis, or Takobia species that we have analysed, a pattern that leaves no doubt regarding their specific independence. High variation amongst A. muticus samples is evident, and has already been noticed by Sroka (2012) and Sroka et al (2021). As detailed therein, these are probably due to misidentified specimens that were contributed to GenBank, and, perhaps, it is another clue for A. muticus being a complex of cryptic species.…”

“…The 'barcoding section' of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) was PCR-amplified with the primers HCO2198 and LCO1490 (Folmer et al 1994). Amplification followed the conditions and protocols outlined by Sroka et al (2021). Automated sequencing was carried out in Microsynth (Balgach, Switzerland).…”

“…The status of these three taxa was rather hectic as they were repeatedly subject to synonymies and rank changes between species groups, subgenera, and genera (Müller-Liebenau 1969;Kluge 1987, 1994;Waltz et al 1994;Waltz and McCafferty 1997;Jacob 2003;Kluge and Novikova 2014). This confusion is partly due to the fact that some of these acts lack solid morphological or molecular support; moreover, the revisions were not based on type material and detailed descriptions were missing (see Sroka et al 2021).…”

“…However, for a long time T. maxillare remained, as Kluge and Novikova 2014 wrote, a "single aberrant species". Recently Sroka et al (2021) provided a redescription of the type species of Takobia based on the type material; important characters, such as the prosthecas and the paraprocts, were re-examined and corrected. Moreover, two new species were described form Central Asia which present-ed derived characters similar to T. maxillare, namely a very elongated maxillary palp, the dorsal surface of the labrum covered with numerous setae (none of them arranged in a row), the peculiar setation of the dorsal margin of femora, and elongated claws.…”

A new species of Alainites (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) from Thailand

“…The status of the three genera was widely debated in various studies (Müller-Liebenau 1969;Kluge 1987, 1994;Waltz et al 1994;Waltz and McCafferty 1997;Kluge and Novikova 2014). However, the revisions were not based on examination of type material and detailed descriptions of the type species were missing (see details in Sroka et al 2021;Yanai et al 2022). In the last comprehensive studies (Sroka et al 2021;Yanai et al 2022), it was highly encouraged to continue to consider Alainites, Nigrobaetis and Takobia as valid genera and wait for a global phylogeny based on molecular and morphological evidence before proposing a definitive classification.…”