Phylogeny of European Bullhead (Cottus sp.) in Western Balkans

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Phylogeny of European Bullhead (Cottus sp.) in Western Balkans Jernej Bravničar1*, Anja Palandačić2, Saša Marić3, Radek Šanda4 and Aleš Snoj1 1 University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical faculty, Department of Animal Science, Slovenia 2 Natural history museum Vienna, Zoological Department, Austria 3 Univeristy of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Serbia 4 National Museum Prague, Czechia European bullhead sensus lato is a species complex, in which lineage determination based on morphology has proven to be extremely difficult, probably due to low interspecific and high intraspeciefic morphological variation. Therefore, major evolutionary lineages across Europe have been determined based on molecular data, which also to some extent corresponds to known morphological variation. Cottus populations on the Balkan Peninsula have not yet been thoroughly studied. Thus we used molecular genetic approach (mtDNA-CR and nu-LSU) to evaluate evolutionary distinctive units of Cottus in the Western Balkans and compare them to other European lineages. We found presence of five distinct lineages. Populations corresponding to Cottus gobio clade inhabit tributaries of Danube River in southern Serbia, rivers of Adriatic drainage and Drava River. Interestingly, we found three additional Cottus linages in Sava River and its tributaries, differing considerably from “main” C. gobio. First, we confirmed morphologically determined Cottus meate from Upper Sava, with species range from the source of Sava River, including tributaries, to the inflow of Kolpa River. Second, we found a new lineage inhabiting the Kolpa and Una river systems. Third, lineage was found inhabiting Bosna and Vrbas rivers. High density of evolutionary distinctive lineages in such a small area is according to our knowledge exceptional for European bullhead and lines up with the general notion of the Balkans as major refuge and present day biodiversity hotspot. Our results correspond with two wave colonization theory of Europe by Cottus genus probosed by Volckaert, first possibly being in Pliocene and second during the Pleistocene, with Balkan Peninsula as starting point for both of them. Keywords: Bullhead, scuplin, Balkan, mtDNA, phylogeny Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Phylogeny, Systematics and Genetics Citation: Bravničar J, Palandačić A, Marić S, Šanda R and Snoj A (2015). Phylogeny of European Bullhead (Cottus sp.) in Western Balkans. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00003 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 04 Nov 2015; Published Online: 04 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Jernej Bravničar, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical faculty, Department of Animal Science, Ljubljana, Slovenia, bravnicar.nejc@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jernej Bravničar Anja Palandačić Saša Marić Radek Šanda Aleš Snoj Google Jernej Bravničar Anja Palandačić Saša Marić Radek Šanda Aleš Snoj Google Scholar Jernej Bravničar Anja Palandačić Saša Marić Radek Šanda Aleš Snoj PubMed Jernej Bravničar Anja Palandačić Saša Marić Radek Šanda Aleš Snoj Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.