From shallow to deep divergences: mixed messages from Amazon Basin cichlids
Cichlids are a conspicuous component of Amazonian ichthyofauna, filling a wide range of niches. Yet taxonomy of many groups is still poorly known in the Amazon, and most of the yet-to-be discovered species are concentrated there. We analyzed 230 individuals sampled from six major Amazonian River Bas...
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Published in | Hydrobiologia Vol. 832; no. 1; pp. 317 - 329 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
01.04.2019
Springer Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Cichlids are a conspicuous component of Amazonian ichthyofauna, filling a wide range of niches. Yet taxonomy of many groups is still poorly known in the Amazon, and most of the yet-to-be discovered species are concentrated there. We analyzed 230 individuals sampled from six major Amazonian River Basins representing 56 morpho-species, 34 nominal and 22 undescribed species in 18 cichlid genera. We used four different single-locus species-discovery (SLSD) methods, delimiting between 53 (mPTP) and 57 (GMYC) species/lineages. When detected, species/lineages are hierarchically geographically structured. Many groups such as the Geophaginae and the Cichlinae have recently diversified, and species of genera such as
Cichla
and
Symphysodon
hybridize or have a history of hybridization; thus, these species will not be detected by SLSD methods. At the same time, for example, the genera
Apistogramma
and
Biotodoma
harbor cryptic species. For all these reasons, species/lineage diversity of Amazonian cichlids is significantly underestimated. The diversity of Amazonian cichlids is particularly remarkable given that the 570 species of Neotropical cichlids, many of which are from the Amazon Basin, are found in just 1.7% of the freshwater aquatic habitat in which the ~ 2,000 species of the East African rift lake cichlids evolved. |
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ISSN: | 0018-8158 1573-5117 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10750-018-3790-x |