Open AccessHistorical biogeography and cryptic diversity in the C allichthyinae ( S iluriformes, C allichthyidae)
Author(s) -
Mariguela Tatiane C.,
Alexandrou Markos A.,
Foresti Fausto,
Oliveira Claudio
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of zoological systematics and evolutionary research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.769
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1439-0469
pISSN - 0947-5745
DOI - 10.1111/jzs.12029
Subject(s) - biology , biogeography , species complex , phylogenetic tree , biological dispersal , ecology , evolutionary biology , sister group , phylogenetics , zoology , clade , population , genetics , gene , demography , sociology
The family C allichthyidae, divided into the subfamilies C orydoradinae and C allichthyinae, contains more than 200 species of armoured catfishes distributed throughout the N eotropics, as well as fossil species dating from the P alaeocene. Both subfamilies are very widely distributed throughout the continent, with some species ranges extending across multiple hypothesized biogeographical barriers. Species with such vast geographical ranges could be made up of multiple cryptic populations that are genetically distinct and have diverged over time. Although relationships among C allichthyinae genera have been thoroughly investigated, the historical biogeography of the C allichthyinae and the presence of species complexes have yet to be examined. Furthermore, there is a lack of fossil‐calibrated molecular phylogenies providing a time frame for the evolution of the C allichthyinae. Here, we present a novel molecular data set for all C allichthyinae genera composed of partial sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear markers. These data were used to construct a fossil‐calibrated tree for the C allichthyinae and to reconstruct patterns of spatiotemporal evolution. All phylogenetic analyses [ B ayesian, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony (MP)] resulted in a single fully resolved and well‐supported hypothesis for the Callichthyinae, where D ianema is the sister group of all the remaining genera. Results suggest that the ancestry of most C allichthyinae genera originated in the A mazonas basin, with a number of subsequent ancestral dispersal events between adjacent basins. High divergences in sequences and time were observed for several samples of H oplosternum littorale , M egalechis picta and C allichthys callichthys, suggesting that these species may contain cryptic diversity. The results highlight the need for a taxonomic revision of species complexes within the C allichthyinae, which may reveal more diversity within this relatively species‐poor lineage.