Lepadogaster purpurea (Actinopterygii: Gobiesociformes: Gobiesocidae) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Significantly extended distribution range

Abstract

Wagner M., Bračun M., Kovačič M., Iglésias S.P., Sellos D.Y., Zogaris S., Koblmüller S. 2017. Lepadogaster purpurea (Actinopterygii: Gobiesociformes: Gobiesocidae) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Significantly extended distribution range. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 47 (4): 417-421.Abstract. The Cornish sucker, Lepadogaster purpurea (Bonnaterre, 1788), a clingfish species thus far known from the north-eastern Atlantic south to western Africa, the Canary Islands and Madeira, and the western Mediterranean basin, was recently collected in Sicily (Italy), Croatia and Greece. Species identification was based on morphological and/or molecular data. These new Mediterranean records of L. purpurea are the first evidence of the species' occurrence in the eastern Mediterranean basin and significantly extend its known distribution range, which likely mirrors that of its sister species Lepadogaster lepadogaster (Bonnaterre, 1788 Henriques et al. (2002) showed that L. lepadogaster and Lepadogaster purpurea (Bonnaterre, 1788) are two closely related, but clearly distinct species living sympatrically in the interstices of boulder beaches. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that the genus Lepadogaster is polyphyletic, with the genus Gouania being the sister taxon of the species pair L. lepadogaster and L. purpurea (see Almada et al. 2008).Even though L. purpurea and L. lepadogaster are very similar in overall appearance, the species can be distinguished by a number of morphological traits, such as size and number of papillae on the sucking disc, size of head-marks and eyespots, different body coloration, snout length and interorbital distance (Henriques et al. Wagner et al. 418 2002). Furthermore, they show clear differences in larval development and behaviour (Faria and Gonçalves 2010, Tojeira et al. 2012). The two species further differ in their microhabitat preferences and breeding seasons (Patzner 1999, Henriques et al. 2002. Both species are broadly sympatric along the European and north-western African Atlantic coasts and islands, whereas only L. lepadogaster is thought to be present and common throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Only a few positive records of L. purpurea are available for the Mediterranean Sea, with the easternmost reported occurrence from Genova, Italy (Henriques et al. 2002).Here, based on morphological and molecular data, we provide evidence for the occurrence of L. purpurea also in the eastern Mediterranean basin.In Morphometric and meristic measurements followed Hofrichter (unpublished * ). Total length (TL), standard length (SL), head length (Hl), body depth (Bd), body width (Bw), sucking disc length (SDl), sucking disc width (SDw), interorbital distance (iO) and number of papillae in sucking disc regions A, B, C (papA, papB, papC) was measured/ counted in two individuals of putative L. purpurea and L. lepadogaster from Greece, and one putative L. purpurea individual from Croatia. Voucher specimens of all individuals used for morphological analysis were deposited at the ...

An Analysis of Adriatic Ichthyofauna—Ecology, Zoogeography, and Conservation Status

“…The rich river inflows over the shallow shelf of the North Adriatic and the mixing of bottom sediments make this area one of the most productive in the Mediterranean, while the central and South Adriatic are less productive, despite their exposure to the influence of the North Adriatic and the periodically stronger influence of Mediterranean waters [20]. The eastern Adriatic channel areas are also more productive compared to the open sea given that they are influenced by fresh water inflow, coves, bays and river mouths, and lower depths; mean gross primary production ranges between 60…”

Unravelling the taxonomy of an interstitial fish radiation: Three new species of Gouania (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from the Mediterranean Sea and redescriptions of G. willdenowi and G. pigra

“…This is particularly true for the genus Gouania , which is endemic to the Mediterranean ecoregion and includes species that are exclusively confined to main basins (Figure 1a). Among truly marine Mediterranean fishes, the small geographic distribution ranges of the various Gouania species are considered to be exceptional, especially compared to the sister genus Lepadogaster , which shows, despite its much wider distribution range (north‐eastern Atlantic to Mediterranean), almost no phylogeographic structure in the Mediterranean basin (Wagner et al ., 2017). Additionally, the high values of intraspecific divergences (Figure 10b) in the eastern Mediterranean species, G. orientalis sp.…”

“…All these sequences were produced in the framework of Wagner et al . (2017, 2019). Additionally, COI barcodes were generated for 27 further individuals (see Supporting Information Table S2), using the primers FishF1 (5′ TCAACCAACCACAAAGACATTGGCAC 3′) and FishR1 (5′ TAGACTTCTGGGTGGCCAAAGAATCA 3′) designed by Ward et al .…”

“…Thus far, phylogenetic and population genetic studies about European clingfishes have been scarce and biased towards the genus Lepadogaster ( e.g ., Henriques et al ., 2002; Klein et al ., 2016; Wagner et al ., 2017). Even though Hofrichter (1995) and Hofrichter and Patzner (2000) document striking colour differences between populations, the diversity within G. willdenowi has been overlooked for more than two decades.…”

Molecular Phylogenetics of the Clingfishes (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae)—Implications for Classification

“…In Almada et al's (2008) study, two other species of Lepadogaster (L. lepadogaster and L. purpurea) were obtained in a moderately supported sister-group relationship with Gouania and not as close relatives of L. candolii. Due to the nonmonophyly of Lepadogaster, Almada et al (2008) recommended reclassifying L. candolii to the genus Mirbelia, but this nomenclatural act has not been widely adopted (e.g., Weitzmann and Mercader, 2012;Wagner et al, 2017;Fricke et al, 2020). Almada et al (2008) recovered Opeatogenys as the sister taxon to the clade containing Gouania, L. lepadogaster, and L. purpurea, Diplecogaster as the sister taxon to a clade containing the aforementioned taxa plus L. candolii and Aspasma ubauo, and Apletodon as the sister taxon to all aforementioned taxa (Fig.…”