Abstract
DNA barcoding can be an effective tool for fast and accurate species-level identification based on sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI) gene. The diversity of this fragment can be used to estimate the richness of the respective species. In this study, we explored the use of DNA barcoding in a group of ornamental freshwater fish of the genus Hyphessobrycon. We sequenced the COI from 10 species of Hyphessobrycon belonging to the “Rosy Tetra Clade” collected from the Amazon and Negro River basins and combined our results with published data. The average conspecific and congeneric Kimura 2-parameter distances were 2.3% and 19.3%, respectively. Six of the 10 species were easily distinguishable by DNA barcoding (H. bentosi, H. copelandi, H. eques, H. epicharis, H. pulchrippinis, and H. sweglesi), whereas the remaining species (H. erythrostigma, H. pyrrhonotus, H. rosaceus and H. socolofi) lacked reciprocal monophyly. Although the COI gene was not fully diagnostic, the discovery of distinct evolutionary units in certain Hyphessobrycon species under the same specific epithet as well as haplotype sharing between different species suggest that DNA barcoding is useful for species identification in this speciose genus.
Highlights
Characidae is the largest family of the order Characiformes with approximately 163 genera and 1,057 valid species
The ten Hyphessobrycon species examined in this study were collected in the Negro River basin (H. bentosi, H. copelandi, H. epicharis, H. pyrrhonotus, H. rosaceus, H. socolofi, and H. sweglesi) and the Amazon River Basin (H. copelandi, H. eques, H. erythrostigma, and H. pulchripinnis)
Almost all species had mean conspecific divergence values below 2%, with the exceptions of H. copelandi (2.2%), H. rosaceus (8.9%), and H. socolofi (4.3%)
Summary
Characidae is the largest family of the order Characiformes with approximately 163 genera and 1,057 valid species. This species richness represents approximately 52% of all species in the order. Native to the Neotropics, Hyphessobrycon is widely distributed from southern Mexico to Argentina (Rio de la Plata) with the greatest species diversity found in the Amazon River basin [3], [4]. Governmental regulations allow 45 Brazilian Hyphessobrycon species to be used for ornamental trade [5]. The Amazon basin is the primary fishing ground for South American ornamental fishes, including the Hyphessobrycon species [6], [7]
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