Evolutionary origin and early biogeography of otophysan fishes (Ostariophysi: Teleostei)

A multi-gene dataset reveals a tropical New World origin and Early Miocene diversification of croakers (Perciformes: Sciaenidae)

Widely distributed groups of living animals, such as the predominantly marine fish family Sciaenidae, have always attracted the attention of biogeographers to document the origins and patterns of diversification in time and space. In this study, the historical biogeography of the global Sciaenidae is reconstructed within a molecular phylogenetic framework to investigate their origin and to test the hypotheses explaining the present-day biogeographic patterns. Our data matrix comprises six mitochondrial and nuclear genes in 93 globally sampled sciaenid species from 52 genera. Within the inferred phylogenetic tree of the Sciaenidae, we identify 15 main and well-supported lineages; some of which have not been recognized previously. Reconstruction of habitat preferences shows repeated habitat transitions between marine and euryhaline environments. This implies that sciaenids can easily adapt to some variations in salinity, possibly as the consequence of their nearshore habitats and migratory life history. Conversely, complete marine/euryhaline to freshwater transitions occurred only three times, in South America, North America and South Asia. Ancestral range reconstruction analysis concomitant with fossil evidence indicates that sciaenids first originated and diversified in the tropical America during the Oligocene to Early Miocene before undergoing two range expansions, to Eastern Atlantic and to the Indo-West Pacific where a maximum species richness is observed. The uncommon biogeographic pattern identified is discussed in relation to current knowledge on origin of gradients of marine biodiversity toward the center of origin hypothesis in the Indo-West Pacific.

Molecular phylogenetics of sculpins of the subfamily Oligocottinae (Cottidae)

The sculpin subfamily Oligocottinae includes 18-20 species of nearshore benthic fishes with a diverse array of reproductive strategies. As a first step toward understanding the evolution of that diversity, we conducted a phylogenetic study based on DNA sequences from eight genomic regions from 31 sculpin species aimed at testing monophyly and relationships of the Oligocottinae. Representatives from the perciform families Agonidae, Cottidae, Hemitripteridae, Hexagrammidae, Psychrolutidae, and Rhamphocottidae served as outgroups. The sequence data were analyzed in maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference frameworks. Results of these analyses show that a systematic revision of the group is warranted. The genus Clinocottus is a polyphyletic assemblage of three distinct lineages, which should be indicated by resurrection of the subgenera Blennicottus, Clinocottus, and Oxycottus; Leiocottus hirundo is more closely related to Clinocottus analis than C. analis is related to any other member of Clinocottus; the composition of the tribe Oligocottini should be revised to include only the genera Oligocottus, Clinocottus, and Orthonopias; and the genus Sigmistes should be removed from the subfamily Oligocottinae.

Drivers of parasite sharing among Neotropical freshwater fishes

Because host-parasite interactions are so ubiquitous, it is of primary interest for ecologists to understand the factors that generate, maintain and constrain these associations. Phylogenetic comparative studies have found abundant evidence for host-switching to relatively unrelated hosts, sometimes related to diversification events, in a variety of host-parasite systems. For Monogenoidea (Platyhelminthes) parasites, it has been suggested that the co-speciation model alone cannot explain host occurrences, hence host-switching and/or non-vicariant modes of speciation should be associated with the origins and diversification of several monogenoid taxa. The factors that shape broad patterns of parasite sharing were investigated using path analysis as a way to generate hypotheses about the origins of host-parasite interactions between monogenoid gill parasites and Neotropical freshwater fishes. Parasite sharing was assessed from an interaction matrix, and explanatory variables included phylogenetic relationships, environmental preferences, biological traits and geographic distribution for each host species. Although geographic distribution of hosts and host ecology are important factors to understand host-parasite interactions, especially within host lineages that share a relatively recent evolutionary history, phylogeny had the strongest overall direct effect on parasite sharing. Phylogenetic contiguity of host communities may allow a 'stepping-stone' mode of host-switching, which increases parasite sharing. Our results reinforce the importance of including evolutionary history in the study of ecological associations, including emerging infectious diseases risk assessment.

Speciation in fishes

The field of speciation has seen much renewed interest in the past few years, with theoretical and empirical advances that have moved it from a descriptive field to a predictive and testable one. The goal of this review is to provide a general background on research on speciation as it pertains to fishes. Three major components to the question are first discussed: the spatial, ecological and sexual factors that influence speciation mechanisms. We then move to the latest developments in the field of speciation genomics. Affordable and rapidly available, massively parallel sequencing data allow speciation studies to converge into a single comprehensive line of investigation, where the focus has shifted to the search for speciation genes and genomic islands of speciation. We argue that fish present a very diverse array of scenarios, making them an ideal model to study speciation processes.

Are characiform fishes Gondwanan in origin? Insights from a time-scaled molecular phylogeny of the Citharinoidei (Ostariophysi: Characiformes)

Fishes of the order Characiformes are a diverse and economically important teleost clade whose extant members are found exclusively in African and Neotropical freshwaters. Although their transatlantic distribution has been primarily attributed to the Early Cretaceous fragmentation of western Gondwana, vicariance has not been tested with temporal information beyond that contained in their fragmentary fossil record and a recent time-scaled phylogeny focused on the African family Alestidae. Because members of the suborder Citharinoidei constitute the sister lineage to the entire remaining Afro-Neotropical characiform radiation, we inferred a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of citharinoids using a popular Bayesian approach to molecular dating in order to assess the adequacy of current vicariance hypotheses and shed light on the early biogeographic history of characiform fishes. Given that the only comprehensive phylogenetic treatment of the Citharinoidei has been a morphology-based analysis published over three decades ago, the present study also provided an opportunity to further investigate citharinoid relationships and update the evolutionary framework that has laid the foundations for the current classification of the group. The inferred chronogram is robust to changes in calibration priors and suggests that the origins of citharinoids date back to the Turonian (ca 90 Ma) of the Late Cretaceous. Most modern citharinoid genera, however, appear to have originated and diversified much more recently, mainly during the Miocene. By reconciling molecular-clock- with fossil-based estimates for the origins of the Characiformes, our results provide further support for the hypothesis that attributes the disjunct distribution of the order to the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. The striking overlap in tempo of diversification and biogeographic patterns between citharinoids and the African-endemic family Alestidae suggests that their evolutionary histories could have been strongly and similarly influenced by Miocene geotectonic events that modified the landscape and produced the drainage pattern of Central Africa seen today.