Evidence of cryptic speciation in South American lungfish

Author(s)

Carneiro, Jeferson ^{[1, 2]} ; Dutra, Guilherme Moreira ^[3] ; Nobre, Rodrigo Moreira ^[2] ; Pinheiro, Luiz Marcelo de Lima ^[4] ; Oliva, Pedro Andres Chira ^[1] ; Sampaio, Iracilda ^[1] ; Schneider, Horacio ^[1] ; Schneider, Igor ^{[5, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Campus Braganca Univ Fed Para, Inst Estudos Costeiros, Alameda Leandro Ribeiro S-N, BR-68600000 Braganca, PA - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Para, Ctr Genom & Biol Sistemas, Rua Augusto Correa 01, BR-66075110 Belem, PA - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Ave Nazare 461, BR-04218970 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Campus Breves Univ Fed Para, Fac Ciencias Nat, Breves - Brazil

^[5] Univ Chicago, Dept Organismal Biol & Anat, 1025 E 57Th St, Chicago, IL 60637 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH; v. 59, n. 3 DEC 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

For over a century, Lepidosiren paradoxa has been recognized as the single lungfish species in South America. Previous studies have failed to identify morphological differences in lungfish populations inhabiting the Amazon and Parana-Paraguay River basins. Here, we report molecular evidence of cryptic speciation in South American lungfish. Our analysis of mitochondrial gene sequences from 56 L. paradoxa individuals collected in the Amazon and Parana-Paraguay river systems revealed that genetic distances between individuals from different basins were on average 20 times greater than those obtained for individuals that occur in the same basin. Haplotype network did not uncover shared haplotypes between basins. Additionally, the species delimitation analysis showed that the posterior probability for the existence of distinct species is highly significant (PP = 0.99961). The phylogenetic analyses (BI and ML) recovered individuals from distinctive basins in reciprocally monophyletic clades. Our divergence time estimate suggests that the Lepidosiren in the Amazon basin are seven million years split from those that occur in the Parana-Paraguay basin. On the other hand, in agreement with previous reports, our morphological comparison of 20 specimens from the Amazon and 14 specimens from the Parana-Paraguay basins revealed no distinctive morphological features. The combined molecular and morphological results suggest that these two forms may represent cryptic species. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/19075-9 - Diversity and evolution of Gymnotiformes (Teleostei, Ostariophysi)
• Grantee: Naercio Aquino Menezes
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants