Publication: Is Nematocharax (Actinopterygii, Characiformes) a monotypic fish genus?
Loading...
Date
Advisor
Coadvisor
Graduate program
Undergraduate course
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Science Publishing, Nrc Research Press
Type
Article
Access right
Acesso aberto
Abstract
The combination of DNA barcodes and geometric morphometrics is useful to discriminate taxonomically controversial species, providing more precise estimates of biodiversity. Therefore, our goal was to assess the genetic and morphometric diversity in Nematocharax, a controversial monotypic and sexually dimorphic genus of Neotropical fish, based on sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and morphometric analyses in seven populations of N. venustus from coastal rivers in Brazil. The average pairwise intrapopulation divergence in COI ranged from 0 to 2.2%, while the average pairwise interpopulation divergence varied from 0 to 7.5%. The neighbour-joining (NJ) tree resulted in five genetic groups (bootstrap >= 97%), which correspond to the five clusters delimited by the BIN System, GMYC, and bPTP, indicating that there might be at least five species (or OTUs) within Nematocharax. Morphometric differences among these genetic lineages were also identified. Apparently, sexual selection, restricted dispersal, and geographic isolation might have acted synergistically to cause the evolutionary split of populations. These data challenge the current view that Nematocharax is a monotypic genus inasmuch as evolutionarily significant units or even distinguished species were identified. Therefore, we recommend that the highly impacted coastal basins in northeastern Brazil should be prioritized in conservation plans.
Description
Keywords
COI, DNA barcoding, ichthyofauna, geometric morphometrics, species delimitation
Language
English
Citation
Genome. Ottawa: Canadian Science Publishing, Nrc Research Press, v. 59, n. 10, p. 851-865, 2016.
