Comprehensive phenotypic phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of stromateiform fishes (Teleostei: Percomorphacea)

Abstract

More than half the ray-finned fishes and about one-quarter of all living vertebrates belong to Percomorphacea. Among its 30 orders, Stromateiformes encompass 77 species in 16 genera and six families. Stromateiform monophyly has never been tested using morphology, and it has been rejected by molecular analyses. This comprehensive revision of Stromateiformes includes all its valid genera of all percomorph families previously aligned with the order. We sampled 207 phenotypic characters in 66 terminal taxa representing 14 orders and 46 acanthopterygian families. This dataset significantly surpasses all previous phenotype-based phylogenies of Stromateiformes, which analysed only a fraction of these characters. Stromateiformes is recovered as monophyletic, supported by eight unequivocal synapomorphies. Amarsipidae is the sister group of all other Stromateiformes (= Stromateoidei). Centrolophidae is paraphyletic, with three of its genera allocated into an early-diverging clade and the other four appearing as successive sister groups to a lineage containing the remaining stromateiforms. All other stromateoid families are monophyletic, with the following cladistic arrangement: (Nomeidae (Stromateidae (Tetragonuridae, Ariommatidae))). Our analysis convincingly refutes recent molecular phylogenetic interpretations that fail to recover a monophyletic Stromateiformes. These findings call into question large-scale conclusions of percomorph relationships and trait evolution based solely on molecular data.

Morphological and Molecular Functional Evidence of the Pharyngeal Sac in the Digestive Tract of Silver Pomfret, Pampus argenteus

“…It has been reported that large adipocytes typically show high metabolic activity and secrete higher quantities of immune cell chemoattractants [ 39 ]. Most stromateoidei fish have been reported to have an intradermal canal plexus situated under the epidermis, which is distributed all over the body and filled with a viscid, oily substance [ 9 ]; a recent report indicates that this system potentially protects the fish against jellyfish stings [ 14 ]. Inspired by this report, we speculate that the large amount of lipids accumulated in the porous cavity of the pharyngeal sac papillae is associated with feeding on and detoxification of jellyfish.…”

“…The pharyngeal sac was initially described as an extra-esophageal growth or pharyngeal origin [ 7 , 8 ]. However, recent research analyzing its skeletal and muscular components has suggested that this organ originated from both the gill arches and the esophagus [ 14 ]. In addition, previous studies have examined the morphology, histology, and digestive enzyme activity of the pharyngeal sac [ 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Morphology and phylogenetic significance of the pelvic articular region in elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes)

“…Additionally, their phylogenetic significance has never been tested as has been done before for characters of the pectoral articular region (Carvalho, 1996; Shirai, 1996; McEachran et al., 1996; McEachran and Aschliman, 2004; Aschliman et al., 2012a; Silva and Carvalho, 2015a; Villalobos‐Segura et al., 2022). Character 1 (quantitative) had its values (counts) normalized avoiding the possible distortions produced by the discretization of meristic data (Farris, 1990; Goloboff et al., 2006; Pastana et al., 2021). The values observed were rescaled from the lowest (0) to the highest (1), thus equating to the costs of transforming a qualitative binary character (Koch et al., 2014; Datovo, 2015).…”

“…The other parameters were set to default. Searches were carried out until the best score was hit 50 times (following Datovo, 2015; Pastana et al., 2021). These parameters were adopted in order to perform the most exhaustive searches possible considering the size of our matrix (moderate dataset) in which ratchet and tree‐drifting tend to be more effective (Goloboff, 2002).…”

Facial and opercular muscles in the Anguilliformes (Elopomorpha: Teleostei): Comparative anatomy and phylogenetic implications for the basal position of Protanguilla

“…Previous studies have relied on a relatively limited comparative framework of three to eight families (Eagderi, 2010; G. J. Nelson, 1967; Springer & Johnson, 2004, 2015). Facial and opercular muscles have proved highly informative in anatomical descriptions of several subgroups of bony fish, such as Notacanthiformes (Greenwood, 1977), Teleostei (Datovo & Vari, 2014; Winterbottom, 1974a), Tetraodontiformes (Winterbottom, 1974b), Stromateiformes (Pastana et al, 2021), Gymnotiformes (Peixoto & de Pinna, 2022), and Actinopterygii (Datovo and Rizzato, 2018). There is every reason to believe that similarly, valuable information awaits discovery in these myological complexes of anguilliforms.…”