Phylogenetic differentiation between Atlantic Scomber colias and Pacific Scomber japonicus based on nuclear DNA sequences

Abstract

In the classical taxonomy, three Scomber species are distinguished: S. scombrus, S. australasicus, and S. japonicus. Yet, some fish taxonomists have recently recognized Scomber colias, inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean, as a separate species from S. japonicus, distributed in the Pacific Ocean. Such proposal was based on significant mitochondrial DNA divergence as well as great phenotypic variation among individuals from these two ocean basins. However, in the absence of nuclear DNA data this issue remains still controversial. In this study, a phylogenetic analysis of nuclear 5S rDNA sequences was performed. A total of 30 individuals of S. colias collected in the Atlantic and 34 specimens of S. japonicus from the Pacific were characterized. Moreover, nine individuals of Pacific S. australasicus and eight of Atlantic S. scombrus were included. Maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and neighbor-joining analyses revealed the presence of two well-supported distinct clades corresponding to S. colias and S. japonicus, respectively. Altogether, morphologic and genetic data are in agreement with the recognition of two different species, S. colias in the Atlantic, and S. japonicus in the Pacific.

Evolutionary relatedness of mackerels of the genus Scomber based on complete mitochondrial genomes: Strong support to the recognition of Atlantic Scomber colias and Pacific Scomber japonicus as distinct species

“…According to these criteria, three species, S. scombrus, S. australasicus, and S. japonicus, were classically recognized within this genus. Genetic data based on the analysis of nuclear (microsatellites, 5S rDNA) and/or mitochondrial (restriction fragment analysis and cyt b sequence) DNA supported the specific status of S. scombrus and S. australasicus (Kijima et al, 1986;Scoles et al, 1998;Infante et al, 2007;Espiñeira et al, 2009;Tzeng et al, 2009). Nevertheless, systematics of S. japonicus has been more problematic because of the considerable morphological variability between specimens inhabiting Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Matsui, 1967).…”

“…With regard to this, complete partitioning of mitochondrial haplotypes between both populations was reported, and a significant phylogenetic differentiation was also found at nuclear 5S rDNA units. Such results recently suggested the need of recognition of two separate species, S. japonicus in the Pacific and S. colias in the Atlantic (Scoles et al, 1998;Collette, 2003;Infante et al, 2007;Espiñeira et al, 2009). Nevertheless, genetic support to this proposal was based on the analysis of limited sequence data, which may cause errors in estimates of evolutionary relatedness among taxa especially if the selected molecular marker evolves quickly (Martin et al, 1990).…”

Development of a method for the identification of scombroid and common substitute species in seafood products by FINS

“…These species are included in two separated clades strongly supported. Infante, Blanco, Zuasti, Crespo, and Manchado (2007) carried out a phylogenetic differentiation between S. colias and S. japonicus based on nuclear 5S rDNA sequences. The results of this work are in agreement with the ones obtained in the present study based on mitochondrial sequences.…”

Population genetic structure of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus in the Northwestern Pacific inferred from microsatellite analysis

“…Chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus (Houttuyn 1782) is a broadly exploited pelagic fish species and has a cosmopolitan distribution along warm and temperate waters of Indo-Pacific Ocean [24][25][26]. In the Northwestern Pacific, it is distributed from Japan along the Chinese coast south to the Malay Archipelago [27], and it is commercially exploited in waters of the East China Sea from Japan to northern Taiwan as important fishery resources for China, Korea, and Japan.…”