All voucher specimens are not created equal: a cautionary tale involving North American pleurocerid gastropods

Although the now routine use of DNA sequences has revolutionized biodiversity research, the taxonomic reliability of these data is a concern, because a significant percentage of sequences in public DNA databases may be misidentified (Bridge et al., 2003). This problem can be minimized through the use of sequences generated from voucher-based taxonomic studies. However, voucher-based reference systems may occasionally fail. Here we document a recent such case and propose two precautionary steps that may help minimize this problem for malacologists in the future. A recent research note (Lee et al., 2006) presented robust nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenetic evidence that the western North American pleurocerid gastropod, Juga hemphilli (Henderson, 1935), belongs to the eastern genus Elimia and is, according to the nuclear marker, sister to Elimia livescens (Menke, 1830). The analysed specimens came from two Florida Museum of Natural History lots collected at the type locality of J. hemphilli dallesensis (Henderson, 1935). One (FLMNH 267703) consisted of dried adult shells unsuitable for genotyping and the other (FLMNH 280708) was composed of