Genetic population structure of the eight-barbel loach Lefua echigonia in the Ise Bay region, a single paleo-river basin in central Honshu, Japan

Abstract

We examined the genetic population structure of Lefua echigonia in the Ise Bay region based on the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b region. Previous phylogeographic studies reported that only the Tokai lineage is distributed in this region; however, the present study revealed that the native Kinki lineage (Kuwana sub-lineage) is also distributed here. Moreover, the Tokai lineage was separated into three sub-lineages—Ise Bay, Mikawa-Shizuoka, and Nakatsugawa—with the Ise Bay and Mikawa-Shizuoka sub-lineages further subdivided into six and two local lineages, respectively. We revealed that L. echigonia has clear geographic differentiation within a single paleo-river basin.