Three distinct and independent molecular-based species delimitation analyses were performed among the species and populations included within theAustraloherosautranigroup, based on sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b: a tree-based method proposed by Wiens and Penkrot (WP), a Character-based DNA Barcoding (CBB) and coalescent species delimitation method termed the Bayesian Implementation of the Poisson tree processes (bPTP). The congruence of WP and CBB delimited 11 independent lineages (species), while the bPTP delimited just nine lineages. We did not favour any of the methods, and we considered the possibility of two slightly variant scenarios. A time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis is proposed based on the predominant congruence of the results of these three species delimitation methods herein applied. The monophyly of theA.autranispecies group was highly supported with maximum node support value and diagnosed by 11 nucleotide substitutions. The sister clade of theA.autranispecies group is the clade comprisingA.sp. Timbé do Sul andA.minuano. The phylogenetic analysis supports three main clades within theA.autranispecies group, supported by maximum node support value, with the Southern Mata Atlântica clade as the most basal clade. Divergence time estimates indicate that the diversification of theAustraloherosoriginated during the early Neogene, but only in the late Neogene did the processes of diversification in the southeast and north regions occur. Diversification within theAustraloherosautranispecies group occurred synchronically for the three main clades during the beginning of the Quaternary. It is demonstrated that molecular characters are valuable tools for species recognition, particularly in speciose groups with inconspicuous or difficult to record morphological characters. The resulting phylogeny of theAustraloherosautranigroup is highly compatible with the geological and biogeographic scenarios proposed for the Neogene and Quarternary shaping of the extant river basins of eastern Brazil. Despite the origin of theA.autranigroup being dated to the late Miocene, species level diversification occurred in the Pleistocene and was probably driven by headwater capture events and sea-level fluctuations.
Based on literature, museum collections and three recent expeditions, an annotated species list of the Lake Edward, East Africa, drainage system is presented, excluding the endemic haplochromines. A total of 34 non-Haplochromis species belonging to 10 families and 21 genera are recorded from the system. Three of these are endemic and two others have been introduced in the region. Six species are new records for the Lake Edward system. A species accumulation curve indicates that we probably covered most of the non-Haplochromis species in the area sampled during the recent expeditions, but undetected species might still be present in the Congolese part of the system, which is poorly sampled. A comparison of the species list with those of neighbouring basins confirmed the placement of the Lake Edward system within the east-coast ichthyofaunal province.
K E Y W O R D Sbiogeography, East Coast Province, ichthyofaunal affinities, introduced species, Lake George
Pantanodon, containing two African extant species and four European fossil species, for a long time had an uncertain position among the Cyprinodontiformes due to its peculiar morphology. In the last decades, Pantanodon has been considered closely related to African lamp-eyes of the Procatopodinae clade, which is contained in the Poeciliidae, a teleost fish family with a broad geographical distribution in Africa and the Americas. However, recent molecular studies have challenged the monophyly of the Poeciliidae, but the position of Pantanodon remained uncertain. We analysed one mitochondrial (COI) and five nuclear loci (GLYT1, MYH6, SH3PX3, RAG1, ENC1), a total of 5,083 bp, for 27 cyprinodontiform taxa and 6 outgroups, obtaining a well-supported phylogeny, in which the monophyly of Poeciliidae, as supported by morphological data is refuted. Pantanodon stuhlmanni, the type species of the genus, is recovered as the most basal cyprinodontoid lineage and other African taxa formerly placed in Poeciliidae are highly supported as more closely related to European non-poeciliid cyprinodontoid genera than to other taxa. Since the present tree topology is not compatible with the present classification of the Cyprinodontoidei, a new classification using available family group names is provided: Pantanodontidae is used for Pantanodon; Procatopodidae, for the African lamp-eye clade; and Fluviphylacidae, for the South American genus Fluviphylax. Poeciliidae is restricted to the American livebearers, hence restoring the classification generally used prior to 1981.
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