Molecular characterisation of the invasive terrestrial nemertean Geonemertes pelaensis: long and complex mitogenome and presence of NUMTs

Gastineau, Romain and Coulis, Mathieu and Otis, Christian and Boyle, Brian and Lemieux, Claude and Turmel, Monique and Mohammadi, Sima and Lévesque, Roger C. and Herbert, David G. and Páll-Gergely, Barna and Richling, Ira and Winsor, Leigh and Justine, Jean-Lou (2026) Molecular characterisation of the invasive terrestrial nemertean Geonemertes pelaensis: long and complex mitogenome and presence of NUMTs. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 16 (1). No. 3312. ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

The complete mitochondrial genome of the invasive terrestrial nemertean Geonemertes pelaensis Semper, 1863 (Nemertea: Prosorhochmidae) was sequenced from two specimens collected in geographically distant French overseas territories—Martinique in the Caribbean and New Caledonia in the South-West Pacific. In both specimens, the mitogenome contained 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and 21 tRNA genes, and was unusually large, approaching 32 kb. The two genomes differed by only four single nucleotide polymorphisms and one indel. A comparison with 22 cox1 sequences available in GenBank confirmed this high level of genetic conservation, suggesting a recent introduction from related source populations. The extraordinary length of the mitogenome was largely attributable to two extended regions comprising only tRNA genes and long intergenic sequences. These results were contrasted with data from an unpublished SRA sequencing project (SRS20559370) of an unlocalized specimen identified as G. pelaensis; its reconstructed mitogenome was only 18 kb in length (14 kb shorter) and showed extensive sequence divergence. Phylogenetic analyses placed this specimen as the sister lineage to G. pelaensis, highlighting the need for further investigation of this taxon. In the Martinique specimen, several NUMTs (nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes) were also detected, which could complicate future studies relying solely on Sanger sequencing. Sequencing additionally revealed prey DNA from the gut contents of both worms: the New Caledonian specimen had consumed an unidentified noctuid moth, while the Martinique specimen had likely fed on the invasive cockroach Periplaneta australasiae (Fabricius, 1775), itself an introduced species.

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