Contribution of molecular data to the systematics and biodiversity of the Platyhelminthes Proseriata

My research was aimed to the genetic surveys of some Monocelidinae (Platyhelminthes): 1) Monocelis lineata is a species characterised by a “simple” morphology. Scopes were twofold: to obtain the first partial sequence of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I in samples belonging to Mediterranean and Atlantic populations; to shed light on the amount of genetic diversity among Atlantic populations by increasing the sampling to cover its distribution range, using the Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR), the cox1, and the small subunit of the nuclear ribosomal gene (SSU). 2) Only few species belonging to Monocelidinae show pigmentation. In Mediterranean and some areas of Atlantic Pseudomonocelis cetinae and Pseudomonocelis agilis are present, which have been synonymised by several authors. Albeit the presence of a diagnostic feature, the separated distribution of populations and the widespread occurrence of sibling species in other taxa of the genus lead us to analyse them by allozyme and ISSRs. 3) The Lessepsian migration has stimulated the interest of biologists, concerning the possible effects of migrants on Mediterranean communities. A recent sampling campaign on the Suez Canal revealed Minona ileanae as the most abundant interstitial taxon. The finding of a population of this species in the Suez, considered as source of Lessepsian migrants, allowed a comparison between its genetic pattern and those obtained from the samples from the Canal by ISSR.