Accelerating ocean species discovery and laying the foundations for the future of marine biodiversity research and monitoring

This is the final version. Available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record. Ocean Census is a new Large-Scale Strategic Science Mission aimed at accelerating the discovery and description of marine species. This mission addresses the knowledge gap of the diversity and distribution of marine life whereby of an estimated 1 million to 2 million species of marine life between 75% to 90% remain undescribed to date. Without improved knowledge of marine biodiversity, tackling the decline and eventual extinction of many marine species will not be possible. The marine biota has evolved over 4 billion years and includes many branches of the tree of life that do not exist on land or in freshwater. Understanding what is in the ocean and where it lives is fundamental science, which is required to understand how the ocean works, the direct and indirect benefits it provides to society and how human impacts can be reduced and managed to ensure marine ecosystems remain healthy. We describe a strategy to accelerate the rate of ocean species discovery by: 1) employing consistent standards for digitisation of species data to broaden access to biodiversity knowledge and enabling cybertaxonomy; 2) establishing new working practices and adopting advanced technologies to accelerate taxonomy; 3) building the capacity of stakeholders to undertake taxonomic and biodiversity research and capacity development, especially targeted at low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) so they can better assess and manage life in their waters and contribute to global biodiversity knowledge; and 4) increasing observational coverage on dedicated expeditions. Ocean Census, is conceived as a global open network of scientists anchored by Biodiversity Centres in developed countries and LMICs. Through a collaborative approach, including co-production of science with LMICs, and by working with funding partners, Ocean Census will focus and grow current efforts to discover ocean life globally, and permanently transform our ability to document, describe and safeguard marine species.Nippon Foundatio

Mitogenomics reveals low variation within a trigeneric complex of black corals from the North Pacific Ocean

A 2013 study revealed that three morphologically distinct antipatharian genera (Dendrobathypathes, Lillipathes, Parantipathes) from the eastern North Pacific (ENP) are genetically indistinguishable using three mitochondrial and four nuclear markers (7,203 bp). To investigate whether this lack of molecular variability extends beyond three mitochondrial genes, we sequenced the complete mitogenome of a single representative within each genus. Dendrobathypathes was the only specimen from the 2013 study containing high molecular weight (HMW) DNA. In terms of geographic proximity to the ENP, the closest Lillipathes and Parantipathes yielding HMW DNA were from the central North Pacific near Hawai'i. Based on cox3-IGR-cox1, Lillipathes and Parantipathes each contained two variable sites and thus were not equivalent substitutes for specimens from the ENP. Nonetheless, variation was extremely low when comparing the mitogenomes, with 32 variable positions across 17,687 bp. Pairwise comparisons revealed 18 (Dendrobathypathes and Parantipathes) and 23 (Lillipathes and Parantipathes;Lillipathes and Dendrobathypathes) variable sites. An ML-based phylogenetic reconstruction using 13 protein-coding genes and two rRNAs revealed that the three North Pacific genera grouped in a clade with Atlantic Dendrobathypathes, while Atlantic Parantipathes spp. formed a sister clade. Previous research hypothesized that hybridization with subsequent introgression was responsible for the lack of variability among genera. Due to uniparental inheritance and lack of recombination, mtDNA cannot identify hybrids; however, finding Pacific Parantipathes grouping with Dendrobathypathes and Lillipathes rather than Atlantic Parantipathes suggests that the trigeneric complex has a unique evolutionary history. If high-resolution nuclear markers support hybridization, it will be important to elucidate the molecular mechanism that maintains three distinct morphological forms occurring in sympatry