RESUMO
Freshwater fishes of Profundulidae, which until now was composed of two subgenera, represent one of the few extant fish families endemic to Mesoamerica. In this study we investigated the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the eight recognized extant species (from 37 populations) of Profundulidae using three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene markers (â¼2.9 Kbp). We applied a Bayesian species delimitation method as a first approach to resolving speciation patterns within Profundulidae considering two different scenarios, eight-species and twelve-species models, obtained in a previous phylogenetic analysis. Based on our results, each of the two subgenera was resolved as monophyletic, with a remarkable molecular divergence of 24.5% for mtDNA and 7.8% for nDNA uncorrected p distances, and thus we propose that they correspond to separate genera. Moreover, we propose a conservative taxonomic hypothesis with five species within Profundulus and three within Tlaloc, although both eight-species and twelve-species models were highly supported by the bayesian species delimitation analysis, providing additional evidence of higher taxonomic diversity than currently recognized in this family. According to our divergence time estimates, the family originated during the Upper Oligocene 26 Mya, and Profundulus and Tlaloc diverged in the Upper Oligocene or Lower Miocene about 20 Mya.
Assuntos
Ciprinodontiformes/classificação , Animais , Teorema de Bayes , Ciprinodontiformes/genética , DNA Mitocondrial/genética , Água Doce , Especiação Genética , México , FilogeniaRESUMO
Phylogenetic relationships among members of the freshwater fish tribe Girardinini were inferred to test existing colonization and diversification hypotheses for this group in the Caribbean. The genetic material examined was mitochondrial (cytochrome b, 1140 bp) and nuclear (RAG-1 and beta-actin, 2450 bp) DNA from 161 specimens representing 44 ingroup and three outgroup taxa. Our mtDNA and combined data matrix (mtDNA+nuclear DNA) results rendered a well-supported phylogeny for the tribe Girardinini and suggest the need to review the group's current taxonomy. From the data presented here, it may be inferred that the Girardinini diverged from other poeciliid fishes approximately 62 Mya ago in the Palaeocene period. This estimate, however, conflicts with the hypothesis that today's vertebrate fauna is the result of the more recent colonization of the Antillean islands during the Early Oligocene (35-33 Mya ago). The isolation of western, central and eastern Cuba during the Miocene and that of the Juventud Island and Guanahacabibes Peninsula during the Pliocene, are the main geologic events that could have promoted speciation in this group.