DNA barcoding and species delimitation of the Old World tooth-carps, family Aphaniidae Hoedeman, 1949 (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes)

Abstract

The fishes, which have currently named Aphanius Nardo, 1827 are the relict of the ancient ichthyofauna of the Tethys Sea. For a long time since 1827, the genus name has been subjected to revision by several researchers using mainly morphological features. Until recently, no comprehensive single-or multi-locus DNA barcoding study has been conducted on whole members of the family Aphaniidae. In the present study, by applying four conceptually different molecular species delimitation methods, including one distance-based method, one network-based and two topology-based methods, we examined a single-locus DNA barcode library (COI) diversity for the 268 sequences within the family Aphaniidae from the Old World (57 sequences are new in the present study and 211 sequences were retrieved from NCBI database). The molecular analyses revealed a clearer picture of intra-family relationships and allowed us to clarify the generic names, and also describe a new genus for the family Aphaniidae. Results supported distinction of three major clades related to three genera within this family: i) the first clade includes the A. mento group which are placed in a new genus, Paraphanius gen. nov., found in the Orontes (= Asi) and Tigris-Euphrates River drainage, the Levant in coastal waters and the Dead Sea basin, western Jordan, and in southern Turkey in the Mediterranean basins as well as in central Turkey. This clade positioned at the base of the phylogenetic tree, (ii) the second clade contains the A. dispar-like brackish water tooth-carps which are transferred to the genus Aphaniops Hoedeman, 1951 (type species, Lebias dispar), distributed in the coastal waters around the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf basins; and (iii) the third clade, the genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827 (type species Aphanius nanus = A. fasciatus) contains all the inland and inland-related tooth-carps, which are mainly distributed in the inland waters in Turkey and Iran and also in the inland-related drainages around the Mediterranean basin.

Comparative ultrastructure and ornamentation characteristics of scales in gobiid species (Teleostei: Gobiidae) using the scanning electron microscope

“…Moreover, Ferrito et al (2009) showed that the scale surface microstructures and the lepidonts on the circuli crests of Aphanius species (see Esmaeili, Teimori, Zarei, & Sayyadzadeh, 2020 well as environmental parameters would affect scale morphology (Ibáñez, 2014;Swain & Foote, 1999;Teimori, 2018). Therefore, the characteristics of scale morphology may not be applicable to infer the taxonomic relationships of some fish groups in their local distribution.…”

New osteological and morphological data of four species ofAphaniops(Teleostei; Aphaniidae)

“…Conversely, a sinuous shape of the epural is absent in A. furcatus and it is also absent in the related Paraphanius mento (this study and Teimori et al., 2014). However, Costa (2012a) reported this character also for Aphanius isfahanensis , and two of the Anatolian Aphanius species, which are not closely related according to molecular studies (Esmaeili et al., 2020; Hrbek & Meyer, 2003). It could be that this trait has evolved convergently in different clades of the Aphaniidae.…”

“…However, studies by Freyhof, Weissenbacher, and Geiger (2017), Teimori, Esmaeili, Hamidan, and Reichenbacher (2018) and Esmaeili et al. (2020) indicate that A. dispar includes four species ( A. dispar , A. hormuzensis Teimori et al., 2018, A. kruppi Freyhof et al., 2017 , A. stoliczkanus (Day, 1872)), which, together with further five species ( A. furcatus Teimori, Esmaeili, Erpenbeck, & Reichenbacher, 2014, A. ginaonis (Holly, 1929), A. richardsoni (Boulenger, 1907), A. sirhani Villwock et al., 1983, A. stiassnyae (Getahun & Lazara, 2001)) comprise the genus Aphaniops .…”

“…Until recently all its representatives were assigned to a single genus, Aphanius Nardo, 1827. However, Esmaeili, Teimori, Zarei, and Sayyadzadeh (2020) separated Aphaniops Hoedeman, 1951 as well as Paraphanius Esmaeili et al., 2020 as own genera. Aphanius and Paraphanius have a geographic distribution along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and also occur in inland habitats of Turkey, Jordan, Iran, and Iraq, while Aphaniops lives in coastal and inland habitats in the South‐Eastern Mediterranean and the Dead Sea basins, the Persian Gulf, and all around the Arabian Peninsula south to Ethiopia and east to India (Esmaeili et al., 2020; Wildekamp, 1993).…”

Adult neuronal regeneration in the telencephalon of the killifish Aphaniops hormuzensis

“…The members of the family Aphaniidae demonstrate great biological diversity in the old world (Esmaeili et al, 2020). Similar to other killifishes, they have a relatively short generation period, and high endurance in the wild and laboratory conditions (Evans et al, 2011; Schartl, 2014).…”