Evidence of a secondary interspecific mitochondrial DNA introgression in the pond loach Misgurnus dabryanus (Teleostei: Cobitidae) population introduced in Japan

The pond loach Misgurnus dabryanus is a freshwater fish with a distribution range spanning the eastern part of the Asian continent, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan. The pond loach was transplanted to the Japanese archipelago through the co‐inclusion with dojo loach ( Misgurnus anguillicaudatus species complex) populations, which were imported live from China for food materials, and it is currently distributed widely across Japan. A previous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis revealed that a pond loach population in Ehime Prefecture (Shikoku Island, Japan) included two highly diverged mtDNA groups (Groups I and II). To examine the origin of these two distinct forms of mtDNA within the Japanese pond loach population, we performed phylogenetic analyses using sequences based on the mtDNA of cytochrome oxidase b (cyt b ) and the nuclear DNA recombination activating gene 1 ( RAG‐1 ). We also conducted a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis to examine the establishment of reproductive isolation between sympatric pond loaches with two different mtDNA groups. Our mtDNA phylogenetic results indicated that the two diverged pond loach mtDNA sequences showed polyphyletic relationships among Misgurnus species and its related genus Cobitis . In contrast, there were no clear divergence in nuclear DNA among the pond loaches irrespective of their mtDNA groups, and they all formed monomorphic clades in the phylogenetic relationships among the species. The discrepancy between the mtDNA and nuclear DNA genes support that the existence of two diverged forms of DNA within the pond loach population could be attributed to past mtDNA introgressions from other species rather than convergent evolution. Previous mtDNA phylogenetic studies among Cobitidae revealed that the dojo loach also consisted of two genetically diverged polyphyletic clades: an original Misgurnus mtDNA and an introgressed mtDNA from Cobitis species. In our mtDNA result, the Group II haplotype of the pond loach was included in the mtDNA from the introgressed dojo loach. This suggested that the Group II haplotype was derived from introgressed dojo loach mtDNA. The close relationships between the introgressed dojo loach and the pond loach mtDNA indicated that this secondary introgression had recently occurred via hybridization in a recent artificial aquaculture or transportation process. Common RAG‐1 alleles and RAPD bands were shared between the sympatric pond loaches with original and introgressed mtDNAs. This indicates that the introgressed mtDNA haplotype is included as one of the polymorphic genotypes within the pond loach populations, and does not represent existence of different cryptic species.