Phylogeny of the sand goby group (Gobionellidae, Teleostei) based on mitochondrial gene sequences and morphological data

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Phylogeny of the sand goby group (Gobionellidae, Teleostei) based on mitochondrial gene sequences and morphological data Christos Gkenas1*, Alexandros Triantafyllidis2, Stefano Malavasi3, Christine Thacker4 and Ioannis Leonardos5 1 MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal 2 Aristotle University, Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, Greece 3 Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Italy 4 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Research and Collections, Section of Ichthyology, United States 5 University of Ioannina, Department of Biological Applications and Technology, Greece The sand gobies are a monophyletic group of small, nearshore marine to freshwater fishes, including 43 species in four genera that inhabit Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Herein, we evaluate the phylogenetic relationships of the sand goby group based on molecular and morphological data. We sequenced fragments of mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase I, from 87 specimens from 20 localities collected from Greece and the Venice lagoon. We examine morphometric and meristic variation on 269 sand goby specimens from 17 localities using multivariate analysis. Principal component analysis demonstrated that variables accounting for most of the interspecific differentiation were first dorsal fin length, anal fin length and size of the head among species. Discriminant analysis revealed that about 91% of the examined fish could be correctly classified into the seven species considered. The most important morphometric variables for species differentiation were the shape of the head, the distance between the two dorsal fins and the width of the caudal peduncle. Phylogenetic analysis supported the systematic classification of genus Economidichthys through the clustering of E. pygmaeus and E. trichonis. The split-up of K. caucasica populations from the Ionian Sea including K. milleri with the K. caucasica populations from the Aegean Sea demonstrated a paraphyletic problem. Within these groupings there is limited genetic differentiation between Ionian populations. In terms of taxonomic implications, our data suggest that K. caucasica from the Ionian Sea and K. milleri should be regarded as synonyms. Finally, the genus Pomatoschistus is divided into three clades corresponding to the species P. minutus, P. marmoratus and P canestrinii. The differentiation between the samples of the Aegean and Ionian Sea is likely a result of the hydrogeologic characteristics and climatic conditions that existed during the Pleistocene. Acknowledgements Christos Gkenas (SFRH/BPD/84859/2012) was supported by the Portuguese Science Foundation from the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano/Fundo Social Europeu (POPH/FSE) Keywords: Sand gobies, COI, phylogeny, morphometry, Monophyly Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Phylogeny, Systematics and Genetics Citation: Gkenas C, Triantafyllidis A, Malavasi S, Thacker C and Leonardos I (2015). Phylogeny of the sand goby group (Gobionellidae, Teleostei) based on mitochondrial gene sequences and morphological data . Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00078 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: 16 Nov 2015; Published Online: 17 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Christos Gkenas, MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1749-016, Portugal, chrisgenas@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 Christos Gkenas Alexandros Triantafyllidis Stefano Malavasi Christine Thacker Ioannis Leonardos Google Christos Gkenas Alexandros Triantafyllidis Stefano Malavasi Christine Thacker Ioannis Leonardos Google Scholar Christos Gkenas Alexandros Triantafyllidis Stefano Malavasi Christine Thacker Ioannis Leonardos PubMed Christos Gkenas Alexandros Triantafyllidis Stefano Malavasi Christine Thacker Ioannis Leonardos 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.