RNA-seq based valuation of the species status of the isopods Lirceus usdagalan, L. culveri, and L. hargeri.
This project seeks to determine the taxonomic status of three species of freshwater asellid isopod crustaceans in the genus Lirceus from the Southern Appalachian Ridge and Valley geomorphic province, eastern USA. The primary goal of this work was to generate a large scale molecular data set to aid in clarifying the status of Lirceus hargeri Hubricht and Mackin 1949, Lirceus usdagalun Holsinger and Bowman 1973, and Lirceus culveri Estes and Holsinger 1976 as distinct species, or as morphological variants of the same species.