Taxonomic Reevaluation of Arius Species Complex (Ariidae): Integrating Morphology and Molecular Data for Species Validation

Abstract

The two methodologies have been used hand in hand to improve the validation of species and offer an all-around guide to the morphology and molecular facets of identification and classification. Morphological techniques, hitherto used in formal classification, analyze size, shape and anatomical structure, among other qualities. It is, however, quite effective although it is hampers by phenotype plasticity, variation within species and co- occurrence of cryptic species. To overcome these drawbacks, molecular methodologies such as molecular barcoding and phylogenetic studies provide genetic analysis of the species, revealing the hither to unknown richness of the world's species and their phylogeny, respectively. Such an integrative approach allows theoretical consensus confirmation, confusion between taxonomic groups elimination, and improvement of species identification. Having incorporated both morphological characteristics and DNA data, investigators can build a comprehensive species concept, which would be useful for the field of biodiversity, Conservation, and asset management. Although the problems implying resource intensiveness and occasional contradiction in data may appear, the given approach is a breakthrough in the taxonomy field, providing robust and accurate validation of species required for dealing with the intricate taxonomy questions.