文昌鱼是最接近脊椎动物直接祖先的现生动物,在脊椎动物起源与演化研究中占有极其重要的位置。近年来,对文昌鱼的研究已引起越来越多的科学家的兴趣,然而作为生命科学研究的重要基础,这类动物的分类学研究相对滞后。依据已有的中国文昌鱼资源调查资料,中国沿海文昌鱼的分布应当十分广泛,即只要有适合文昌鱼栖息的沙滩,均有文昌鱼分布的可能。根据目前的分类学研究成果和动物命名法中的优先权原则,建议将产于青岛等地的文昌鱼种名Brnachiostoma belcheri tsingtauense订正为B.japonicus,南方的文昌鱼保留其原种名B.belcheri。由此,目前分布在中国沿海的鳃口文昌鱼属(Branchiostoma)至少有2种,侧殖文昌鱼属(Epigonichthys)有1～3种,漂浮文昌鱼(Amphioxides pelagicus)1种。DNA分子标记技术在文昌鱼分类学研究中将会发挥更大的作用。Amphioxus, as the closest living animal of the last common ancestor of all vertebrates, occupies an extremely important phylogenetic position in the evolution of vertebrates and has attracted the interest of scientists from various research fields in recent years. However, despite their importance for the life sciences, taxonomic studies of amphioxus are relatively limited. In present review, we summarize current progress in both field investigations and taxonomic research of Chinese amphioxus. Based on the investigation data, we assume that amphioxus is distributed in all habitable sandy beaches along the Chinese coast from south to north. According to the rule of priority and recent taxonomic studies on amphioxus, we also propose that the original subspecies Brnachiostoma belcheri tsingtauense together with the population in most Japanese waters is an independent species and its name should be revised to B. japonicus. Consequently, there are at least two species of genus Brnachiostoma and 1-3 of Epigonichthys and one of Amphioxides in the China Sea. Finally, the application of DNA molecular markers in systematic studies of cephalochordate is evaluated.国家自然科学基金资助项目(30470938;30570208);; 福建省自然科学基金资助项目(D0510002);; 厦门市科技计划项目(3502Z20042015
