Multi-Locus Phylogenetic Analyses of the Almadablennius Clade Reveals Inconsistencies with the Present Taxonomy of Blenniid Fishes

Abstract

We used a multi-locus phylogenetic approach (i.e., combining both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA fragments) to address some long-standing taxonomic inconsistencies within the diverse fish clade of Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae—unranked clade Almadablennius). The obtained phylogenetic trees revealed some major inconsistencies in the current taxonomy of Parablennini, such as the paraphyletic status of the Salaria and Parablennius genera, casting some doubt regarding their actual phylogenetic relationship. Furthermore, a scarce-to-absent genetic differentiation was observed among the three species belonging to the genus Chasmodes. This study provides an updated taxonomy and phylogeny of the former genus Salaria, ascribing some species to the new genus Salariopsis gen. nov., and emphasizes the need for a revision of the genus Parablennius.

Revalidation of the genus Ichthyocoris Bonaparte, 1840 (Actinopterygii: Blenniiformes: Blenniidae)

“…In a recent study, Vecchioni et al (2022) also split the genus Salaria, distinguishing marine Salaria spp. from (Bath 1977;Kottelat 2004;Doadrio et al 2011;Tiralongo 2020).…”

“…However, both marine and freshwater species are well discriminated with a common ancestor estimated at the Miocene (around 35-5 Ma according to studies of Almada et al 2009;Wagner et al 2021). Moreover, this genus seems to be paraphyletic according to mitochondrial and nuclear markers (Hundt et al 2014;Vecchioni et al 2019Vecchioni et al , 2022.…”

Mitochondrial DNA of Sardinian and North-West Italian Populations Revealed a New Piece in the Mosaic of Phylogeography and Phylogeny of Salariopsis fluviatilis (Blenniidae)

“…The freshwater blenny, Salariopsis fluviatilis (Asso, 1801) (Actinopterygii: Blenniiformes: Blenniidae), is a small benthic fish that inhabits river basins and lakes around the Mediterranean Sea. It belongs to the recently described genus Salariopsis Vecchioni, Ching, Marrone, Arculeo, Hundt & Simons, 2022, proposed by Vecchioni and co-authors [ 1 ] in order to differentiate freshwater species previously referred to the genus Salaria Forsskål, 1775. Nowadays, the genus Salariopsis includes freshwater species whose distribution is across the eastern Atlantic coasts (Morocco), the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“…fluviatilis . However, in light of the description of the new genus Salariopsis [ 1 , 5 ], we refer to it as Salariopsis cf. fluviatilis hereafter.…”

“…The high number of mitochondrial Control Region and 16s sequences that are present in the GenBank database for S. fluviatilis allowed us to compare the sequences obtained in the present study with many others from different geographic areas. In previous studies, the combined use of Control Region and 16s sequences has been demonstrated to be helpful in providing insights into the genetic structuring and phylogenetic history of S. fluviatilis populations [ 1 , 8 , 15 , 17 ].…”