A new cryptic species of Hyphessobrycon Durbin, 1908 (Characiformes, Characidae) from the Eastern Amazon, revealed by integrative taxonomy

Abstract

Hyphessobryconcarusp. nov. is described based on five different and independent methods of species delimitation, making the hypothesis of this new species supported by an integrative taxonomy perspective. This new species has a restricted distribution, occurring just in the upper Pindaré river drainage, Mearim river basin, Brazil. It is a member of the rosy tetra clade, which is characterized mainly by the presence of a dark brown or black blotch on dorsal fin and absence of a midlateral stripe on the body. Hyphessobryconcarusp. nov. is distinguished from the members of this clade mainly by the shape of its humeral spot, possessing few irregular inconspicuous vertically arranged chromatophores in the humeral region, or sometimes a very thin and inconspicuous humeral spot, and other characters related to teeth count, and color pattern. The phylogenetic position of the new species within the rosy tetra clade was based on molecular phylogenetic analysis using sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit 1. In addition, a new clade (here termed Hyphessobryconmicropterus clade) within the rosy tetra clade is proposed based on molecular data, comprising H.carusp. nov., H.micropterus, H.piorskii, and H.simulatus, and with H.carusp. nov. and H.piorskii recovered as sister species. Our results suggest cryptic speciation in the rosy tetra clade and, more specifically, in the H.micropterus clade. We recommend the use of integrative taxonomy for future taxonomic revisions and species descriptions when dealing with species complexes and groups containing possible cryptic species.

Mitochondrial genomes of five Hyphessobrycon tetras and their phylogenetic implications

“…Brycon nattereri and Salminus brasiliensis clustered together but not with the Characidae species. H. pulchripinnis and H. sweglesi were classified together, while H. elachys , H. flammeus , and H. roseus were classified with other species of different genera and slightly away from the other fish of the same genus, which showed similarity to previous reports (Guimarães et al., 2019 , 2020 ). Although the species in Paracheirodon were classified together, Astyanax and Hyphessobrycon species were not classified together, indicating that there may be some problems with the basis of classification.…”

Molecular and morphological diversity in species of Kronichthys (Teleostei, Loricariidae) from Atlantic coastal rivers of Brazil

“…Although both studies explicitly indicate the presence of undescribed diversity, the specimens of K. aff. heylandi (Guimarães et al, 2019;Mateussi et al, 2019;Melo et al, 2016b). On the contrary, results consistently indicate a single genetic lineage for the nominal species K. subteres and K. lacerta (Figure 2).…”

“…Species delimitation studies have challenged the number of recognized species in several otophysan groups (García-Melo et al, 2019;Machado et al, 2017Machado et al, , 2018Mateussi et al, 2017Mateussi et al, , 2019Melo et al, 2016aMelo et al, , 2018Serrano et al, 2019;Silva et al, 2013). Subsequent taxonomic papers describing the hidden diversity exemplify a real progress (Guimarães et al, 2019;Mateussi et al, 2018;Melo et al, 2016b;Melo & Oliveira, 2017;Silva et al, 2016) with several addressing loricariids such as Ancistrus (Prizon et al, 2017), Corymbophanes (Lujan et al, 2020), Hypostomus (Anjos et al, 2020;de Queiroz et al, 2020), Neoplecostomus (Roxo et al, 2015), Pareiorhaphis (Fagundes et al, 2020), Pseudolithoxus (Collins et al, 2018), Rineloricaria (Costa- and Schizolecis (Souza et al, 2018). Those molecular studies along with time-calibrated phylogenies have been used as a framework for biogeographic assumptions for coastal and inland loricariid taxa across the Serra do Mar mountain range in the Atlantic coast of Brazil (Roxo et al, 2014(Roxo et al, , 2019.…”

A new species of Hoplias malabaricus species complex (Characiformes: Erythrinidae) from the Crepori River, Amazon basin, Brazil

“…Integrative taxonomy has contributed in recent years to unravel and describe a large number of cryptic species of fishes ( e.g ., Allen et al ., 2016; Faria et al ., 2021; Guimarães et al ., 2019; Melo et al ., 2016). H. auri is formally described herein and has been previously reported as H. malabaricus (Silva, 2017) and assumed as a putative undescribed new species from the H. malabaricus species‐group, based on DNA barcoding distances (Guimarães, 2020).…”

“…The adoption of molecular tools, such as DNA barcoding, allied with traditional morphology and other markers provides increased power to investigate taxonomic boundaries among species, in a way that is commonly referred to as ‘integrative taxonomy’ (Dayrat, 2005). It has proven to be effective for clarifying cryptic species hidden in species complex and is becoming usual in taxonomic fish studies ( e.g ., Faria et al ., 2021; Guimarães et al ., 2019; Melo et al ., 2016; Rosso et al ., 2016, 2018). Through DNA barcoding, at least 15 new candidate species are expected in the H. malabaricus complex (Cardoso et al ., 2018).…”