Phylogeny of the African representatives of the catfish family Clariidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes) based on a combined analysis: independent evolution towards anguilliformity

Abstract

Clariid catfishes span a broad range of body forms ranging between fusiform and anguilliform morphotypes. Although such variation in body shape has been observed in other families of teleost fishes, amphibians and reptiles, it is rarely as extreme as within the Clariidae. Although the Clariidae were thought to have undergone anagenetic evolution (i.e. progressive evolution within a lineage), more recent studies indicate that anguilliformity evolved several times through a process of cladogenesis (i.e. branching of evolutionary lineages). In this study, it is shown that the phylogenetic analysis of morphological data mainly gives a reflection of the cranial evolution in the Clariidae despite the use of 18 post-cranial characters (out of a total of 53 characters). A combined phylogenetic analysis of both morphological and molecular data rather suggests the derived nature of body elongation. The corresponding morphological changes that co-occur with this elongation can be regarded as an extreme case of convergent evolution at the genus level within the Clariidae.