Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) of Mexican hydrological basins based on helminth parasites of freshwater fishes

Abstract

Aim The distributional patterns of helminthological fauna of freshwater fishes were analysed to postulate a general hypothesis on the relationships of some Mexican hydrological systems.Location Eight hydrological systems of central and eastern Mexico were studied and compared with records from Nicaragua.Methods A Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) was applied to the presence/ absence of ninety-two helminth parasite taxa (Monogeneans, Digeneans, Cestodes, Acanthocephalans and Nematodes) of freshwater fishes, from eight Mexican hydrological systems, using the Hennig86 program. ResultsThe results represent the first attempt for a biogeographical analysis through application of the PAE method to the distributional patterns of helminth parasites of freshwater fishes in Mexico. A single most parsimonious cladogram was obtained, which grouped all the Neotropical systems in accordance with previous proposals based on other plant and animal taxa. Main conclusionsThe most basal systems were Santiago and Lerma basins, which exhibited Nearctic affinities. The remaining areas of the cladogram showed Neotropical affinities. All the southeastern systems were grouped in a clade with the Nicaragua system, providing support for a ÔMesoamerican provinceÕ based on helminth parasites of cichlids. The cladogram also suggests that the treatment of the Lerma-Santiago basin as a single biogeographical unit is inaccurate and that they should be treated as separate systems.

Helminth parasites in freshwater fish from the Papaloapan river basin, Mexico

“…The low cestode and acanthocephalan diversity in this inventory also fit previously described patterns for Mexican freshwater fish. Aguilar-Aguilar et al (2003b) report a close biogeographic relationship between freshwater helminth faunas from the Papaloapan and those from Tabasco, the Yucata´n Penı´nsula and Nicaragua. The present data support the above and show that the helminth fauna composition in Papaloapan fish is related to that of the freshwater fish from the Grijalva-Usumacinta hydrological system in Tabasco (56% of species shared) (see Salgado-Maldonado et al 2005) and from the Yucata´n Penı´nsula (42% of species shared) (see Moravec et al 1995a, b;Scholz et al 1995aScholz et al , b, 1996aMendoza-Franco et al 1999Kritsky et al 2000).…”

“…Information on the nematodes of freshwater fish in the Neotropics has been addressed by Moravec (1998). Two zoogeographic treatments aid in systematizing the knowledge generated on the distribution, richness and endemic areas of helminths in freshwater fish in Mexico (VidalMartı´nez and Kennedy 2000;Aguilar-Aguilar et al 2003b). Notwithstanding, the helminth fauna data for fish from the Papaloapan River, one of the largest and most important watercourses in Mexico, are still scattered, mostly in taxonomic publications.…”

On Reciprocal Illumination and Consilience in Biogeography

“…In time 1, G 2 and G 3 , which are different kinds of generalizations not expected to be explained by H, are actually explained by the hypothesis. As in the nonconsilient case, H can be reinterpreted and stretched to account G n or G n reinterpreted under the light of H. The hypothesis H acquires a higher degree of support Evol Biol (2009) 36:407-415 411 other than the simple sharing of distributional areas (e.g., Aguilar-Aguilar et al 2003;Carrillo-Ruiz and Moron 2003;García-Trejo and Navarro 2004;de Grave 2001). NDM/VNDM (Szumik and Goloboff 2007) seems to be a useful tool to delimit endemism but its application requires further elucidations to escape from methodological blackboxes that could lead to mistreatment of the datasets.…”

Endemism in historical biogeography and conservation biology: concepts and implications

“…The units used in PAE are predetermined areas of any kind, such as arbitrary operational units (van Soest, 1994), quadrats (Morrone 1994a, Linder 2001a,b, García-Barros et al 2002, Morrone and Escalante 2002, Rovito et al 2004, García-Barros, 2003, Rojas-Soto et al 2003, Vergara et al 2006, Herrera-Paniagua et al 2008, Meng et al 2008, Löwenberg-Neto and de Carvalho, 2009, Ramírez-Barahona et al 2009), islands (Bisconti et al 2001, Trejo-Torres and Ackerman 2001, Fattorini 2002, localities (Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 1996, Ron 2000, Anstey et al 2003, Ribichich, 2005, Ramírez-Arriaga and Martínez-Hernández, 2007, Gates et al 2010, Aguirre et al 2011, interfluvial regions (Silva and Oren 1996), hydrological basins (Aguilar-Aguilar et al 2003, Huidobro et al 2006, politically defined areas (Cué-Bär et al 2006, Nelson 2008, Ribeiro and Eterovic 2011, biogeographical areas (Glasby andAlvarez 1999, Vega et al 1999), predefined areas of endemism (Goldani et al 2002, Katinas et al 2004, Espinosa et al 2006, Albert and Carvalho 2011. In a few analyses, latitudinal (Morrone et al 1997…”