DNA Barcoding of Lepetodrilus Limpets Reveals Cryptic Species

Lepetodrilid limpets are common inhabitants of deep-sea hydrothermal vents worldwide, but the frequent occurrence of morphologically cryptic species makes their identification very difficult. To facilitate these identifications, we provide DNA barcodes based on ∼1,000 bp of cytochrome-c-oxidase subunit I (COI), for 20 taxa within the genus Lepetodrilus. The method was also used to identify lepetodrilids that were found living on vent decapods. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis resolved relationships among members of several cryptic species complexes; however, COI sequences alone were unable to resolve higher-level systematic relationships caused by saturation of synonymous nucleotide substitutions.