Comparative historical biogeography of three groups of Nearctic freshwater fishes across central Mexico

Abstract

Biogeographic patterns of the three main Nearctic groups of continental fishes inhabiting river drainages in central Mexico (livebearing goodeids, southern Mexican notropins and species of Algansea, the last two representing independent lineages of cyprinids) were obtained and compared by following two approaches: an estimate of divergence times and using a well-defined biogeographic method. Three concordant biogeographic events were identified among the three groups, showing some evidence of a partially congruent evolutionary history. The analysed groups show at least three independent colonization events into central Mexico: two western routes, followed by the Goodeinae and members of Algansea, and an early Plateau route followed by southern notropins. The most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of each of the three freshwater fish groups diversified in central Mexico in the Late Miocene. The lack of a strong congruence in their biogeographic patterns, and the differences in species richness among the three clades might be evidence for distinct patterns of diversification.

The historical biogeography of the southern group of the sucker genusMoxostoma(Teleostei: Catostomidae) and the colonization of central Mexico

“…The results of the biogeographic analyses in the current study provided empirical evidence that helps achieve a better understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographical history of the fauna inhabiting a transitional area, such as central Mexico, where the boundary between the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographical regions is established. The findings that we have presented here contribute to our understanding of the colonization routes of Nearctic fish groups into central Mexico, and corroborate that the diversity pattern of the Nearctic fish component in the region is the result of several independent colonization events (Pérez‐Rodríguez et al ., ). In particular, for the southern group of Moxostoma the range extension represented a determinant factor for its colonization into central Mexico, and is related to their high dispersal ability.…”

“…Currently, because Scartomyzon has been recognized as a junior synonym of Moxostoma , and with the recent finding that two species, S. congestus and Scartomyzon albidus Girard, 1856, are not closely related (Clements et al ., ), the species complexes changed to M. albidum for populations inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico slope and M. austrinum for those found in the Conchos River, central Mexico, and on the western Pacific slope. In contrast with other representative groups of freshwater fishes of central Mexico that arose during the Miocene (Pérez‐Rodríguez et al ., ), the Pliocene–Pleistocene fossil evidence, and the low species richness of members of the southern group, suggests a more recent dispersal into central Mexico. Thus, a distinct biogeographical pattern is expected to have occurred in the case of the southern group, implying an independent evolutionary history for the populations occurring in the northern and central river basins of Mexico.…”

Speciation of silversideChirostoma attenuatum(Pisces: Atheriniformes) in Central Mexico

“…In Atherinopsidae that inhabit continental habitats, high species richness has been attributed to the frequency of allopatric speciation events resulting from emergence of vicariant barriers, limiting gene flow and promoting genetic divergence (Barbour, ; Bloom et al., ; Echelle & Echelle, ; García‐Martínez, Mejia, García ‐De León, & Barriga‐Sosa, ; Miller, Minckley & Norris, ). For fish species distributed throughout Central Mexico, allopatric events related to geological activity in the Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB), together with the climate history, are regarded as the main source of diversification (Beltrán‐López et al., ; Domínguez‐Domínguez, Doadrio, & Pérez‐Ponce de León, ; Pérez‐Rodríguez, Domínguez‐Domínguez, Doadrio, Cuevas‐Gacía, & Pérez‐Ponce de León, ). Diversification of the genus Chirostoma Swainson 1839 from Central Mexico has been associated with such allopatric speciation events as well as with sympatric ecological segregation, particularly in the species inhabiting lacustrine ecosystems (Barbour, ; Barbour & Chernoff, ; Echelle & Echelle, ).…”

Phylogeny and taxonomy of the genusIlyodonEigenmann, 1907 (Teleostei: Goodeidae), based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

“…The geological history of Central Mexico is characterized by high tectonic and volcanic activity since the Miocene, at least 16 Mya that continues to the present, generating an ongoing process of hydrological reconfiguration (Ferrari, Conticelli, Vaggelli, Potrone, & Manetti, ). This dynamic geomorphology has been postulated as the primary cause of the complex evolutionary history of the freshwater fish fauna of Central Mexico, exceeding the effects of biological characteristics and the evolution of climate conditions (Barbour, ; Domínguez‐Domínguez, Doadrio, Martínez‐Meyer, Zambrano, & Pérez‐Ponce de León, ; Domínguez‐Domínguez et al., ; Pérez‐Rodríguez, Domínguez‐Domínguez, Doadrio, Cuevas‐García, & Pérez‐Ponce de León, ; Smith, ). Of the nearly 100 described species of freshwater fish in Central Mexico, ~70% are endemic (Miller, Minckley, & Norris, ) as a result of paleogeological isolation processes, especially volcanism and tectonic events.…”