An integrative approach is crucial in discrimination of species, especially for taxa that are difficult to identify based on morphological characters. In this study, we combine genetics and morphology to assess the diversity of Pterasteridae, a sea star family diversified in deep-sea and polar environments. Because of their derived anatomy and the frequent loss of characters during preservation, Pterasteridae are a suitable case for an integrative study. The molecular identification of 191 specimens (mostly from the Southern Ocean) suggests 26–33 species in three genera (Diplopteraster, Hymenaster and Pteraster), which match the morphological identification in 54–62% of cases. The mismatches are either different molecular units that are morphologically indistinguishable (e.g. Pteraster stellifer units 2 and 4) or, conversely, nominal species that are genetically identical (e.g. Hymenaster coccinatus/densus/praecoquis). Several species are shared between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (e.g. Pteraster jordani/affinis). In conclusion, the taxonomic status of some groups is confirmed, but for others we find the need to re-evaluate the taxonomy at both genus and species levels. This work significantly increases the DNA barcode library of the Southern Ocean species and merges taxonomic information into an identification key that could become a baseline for future studies (pterasteridae-so.identificationkey.org).

中文翻译：

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南大洋中翼龙科（小行星）的多样性：分子和形态学方法

整合方法对于区分物种至关重要，尤其是对于很难根据形态特征进行识别的分类单元而言。在这项研究中，我们结合遗传学和形态学来评估翼龙科的多样性，翼龙科是在深海和极地环境中多样化的海星家族。由于其衍生的解剖结构以及保存过程中字符的频繁丢失，翼龙科是进行综合研究的合适案例。191个标本（主要是从南大洋）的分子鉴定，其结果26-33种三个属（Diplopteraster，Hymenaster和Pteraster），在54–62％的病例中符合形态学识别。错配要么是形态上无法区分的不同分子单元（例如，凤尾蝶的第2和第4单元），要么相反，是具有遗传同一性的标称物种（例如，Hymenaster coccinatus / densus / praecoquis）。北半球和南半球之间共有几种物种（例如，Pteraster jordani / affinis）。总而言之，某些群体的分类学地位得到了确认，但是对于其他群体，我们发现有必要在属和物种水平上重新评估分类学。这项工作显着增加了南大洋物种的DNA条码文库，并将分类学信息合并到一个识别码中，可以作为将来研究的基准（pterasteridae-so.identificationkey.org）。