Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the South American savanna killifish genus Melanorivulus (Teleostei: Rivulidae)

Abstract

This study comprises the first molecular phylogeny of Melanorivulus, a genus of small killifishes inhabiting shallow streams draining South American savannas, using segments of the mitochondrial genes 16S and ND2 and the intron 1 of the nuclear S7 gene, total of 2,138 bp, for 26 taxa. Monophyly of the genus is highly supported and some clades previously diagnosed on the basis of colour patterns are corroborated. A biogeographical analysis using event-based methods indicated that the most recent common ancestor of Melanorivulus occupied a region comprising the savannas of the eastern Amazon and the ecotone Amazon-Cerrado, and the present day distribution has been shaped by a series of dispersal and vicariance events through areas today including the upland Cerrado and the lowland Pantanal. The presence of a broad stripe of dense rain forest today separating the savannas of the eastern Amazon, inhabited by M. schuncki, from the savannas located south of the Amazon, from where a clade comprising all other species of the genus is endemic, is regarded as evidence of possible geographical expansion of Melanorivulus lineages through savanna areas during past cooler and drier periods, when South American grasslands and savannas expanded and rain forests were restricted to small areas.