DNA barcoding techniques used to identify the shared ichthyofauna between the Pantanal floodplain and Upper Parana River

Abstract

The biological invasion process is widely debated topic, as the population depletion of some species and the extinction of others are related to this process. To accelerate the identification of species and to detect non-native forms, new tools are being developed, such as those based on genetic markers. This study aimed to use Barcode DNA methodology to identify fish species that had translocated between the Parana and Paraguay River Basins. Based on a database of two studies that were conducted in these regions, 289 sequences of Cytochrome Oxidase C subunit 1 (COI) were used for General Mixed Youle Coalecent (GMYC) analysis, including 29 morphospecies that were sampled in both river basins. As a result, we observed that while some morphospecies have low variation, demonstrating a recent occupation of the basins, other morphospecies probably represent species complexes. A third of the morphospecies had well-defined lineages but not enough to be treated as different Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs). These results demonstrate that human interventions possibly participated in the distribution of some lineages. However, biogeographical historical processes are also important for the morphospecies distribution. The data suggest that the number of species that are present in these two basins is underestimated and that human actions can irreversibly affect the natural history of the species in these regions.

Ichthyofauna of the ribeirão Sucuri, tributary of rio Tietê, upper rio Paraná basin, southeastern Brazil

“…Fagundes et al (2015) reported R. descalvadensis in the rio Paranaíba basin, demonstrating that after a few years this species reached the northern boundary of the upper rio Paraná. Accordingly, Costa-Silva et al (2017) found no genetic divergence between samples of R. descalvadensis from the rio Tiête, upper rio Paraná, and rio Paraguay, as expected in populations transplanted by human activities, whether by the Canal da Piracema or by any other means. According to Ota et al (2018), the presence of H. misionera and Satanoperca sp.…”

Integrative taxonomy reveals hidden cestode diversity in Pimelodus catfishes in the Neotropics

“…A recent phylogenetic study using DNA barcoding (COI) sequences of fishes from the Pantanal floodplain and upper Paraná River (localities also sampled in this study) has revealed the presence of two discrete species within the Pi. maculatus complex (Costa‐Silva et al., 2017); hence the actual host associations of Pseudoendorchis remain unclear.…”

Stream fish metacommunity organisation across a Neotropical ecoregion: The role of environment, anthropogenic impact and dispersal-based processes

“…In fact, headwater captures between the Upper Paraná and adjacent basins, such as Upper Tocantins, Upper São Francisco, Coastal drainages and Upper Paraguay were already documented (e.g. [90,91,92,93]). Lima & Ribeiro [20] show that the headwater captures presumably were due to recent tectonic events that the ecoregion has been experiencing over time and which facilitated species exchange between the subjacent basins.…”