Phylogenetic relationships of †Luisiella feruglioi (Bordas) and the recognition of a new clade of freshwater teleosts from the Jurassic of Gondwana

Abstract

BackgroundTeleosts constitute more than 99 % of living actinopterygian fishes and fossil teleosts have been studied for about two centuries. However, a general consensus on the definition of Teleostei and the relationships among the major teleostean clades has not been achieved. Our current ideas on the origin and early diversification of teleosts are mainly based on well-known Mesozoic marine taxa, whereas the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of many Jurassic continental teleosts are still poorly understood despite their importance to shed light on the early evolutionary history of this group. Here, we explore the phylogenetic relationships of the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian – Tithonian) freshwater †Luisiella feruglioi from Patagonia, in a comprehensive parsimony analysis after a thorough revision of characters from previous phylogenetic studies on Mesozoic teleosts.ResultsWe retrieved †Luisiella feruglioi as the sister taxon of the Late Jurassic †Cavenderichthys talbragarensis, both taxa in turn forming a monophyletic group with the Early Cretaceous †Leptolepis koonwarri. This new so far exclusively Gondwanan freshwater teleost clade, named †Luisiellidae fam. nov. herein, is placed outside crown Teleostei, as a member of the stem-group immediately above the level of †Leptolepis coryphaenoides. In addition, we did not retrieve the Late Jurassic †Varasichthyidae as a member of †Crossognathiformes. The position of †Crossognathiformes within Teleocephala is confirmed whereas †Varasichthyidae is placed on the stem.ConclusionsThe general morphology of luisiellids is that of basal, stem Teleocephala; however, most of their synapomorphies have evolved independently in teleocephalans. Similarly, the resemblance between varasichthyids and crossognathiforms might be due to parallel evolution. In accordance to most teleostean phylogenies, our analysis shows that a major morphological change occurred along the stem line and are currently recorded at the level of †Leptolepis coryphaenoides. A stem-based total clade Teleostei has been accepted for this work.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0551-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Vicariance and dispersal in southern hemisphere freshwater fish clades: a palaeontological perspective

“…†Archaeomenids and †luisiellids are poorly known freshwater stem teleost groups with a southern Gondwanan distribution (Sferco, López‐Arbarello & Báez, ; Bean, ). The age of these taxa (†Archaeomenidae: Early Jurassic–Early Cretaceous; †Luisiellidae: Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous) is consistent with a continuous Jurassic range encompassing South America, Antarctica and Australia [but see Su, for a putative †archaeomenid from the Early Jurassic of China].…”

Reappraisal of Mesozoic fishes and associated invertebrates and flora from Talbragar and Koonwarra, eastern Australia

“…In his paper on the Upper Jurassic Pycnodontidae, Ebert (2013) expressed his opinion that Aetheolepis mirabilis was a pycnodontiform because it has fringing fulcra on all unpaired fins. Ebert has now seen more detailed pictures of Aetheolepis, including the one in this paper (Figure 7), and Figure 6: Simplified strict consensus tree modified after Sferco et al (2015b). The clade with bold species names is Luisiellidae, including two Australian forms.…”

“…2. Leptolepis koonwarri Waldman, 1971, is now known as Waldmanichthys koonwarri (Waldman, 1971) by Sferco et al (2015b). 3.…”

“…3. Both these fishes are currently interpreted as members of the Family Luisiellidae, a freshwater Gondwanan clade, together with Luisiella feruglioi from Patagonia (Sferco et al 2015b). 4.…”

“…Sferco et al (2015a) included an anatomical description of Luisiella feruglioi that highlighted its many similarities to Cavenderichthys talbragarensis and Waldmanichthys koonwarri ( Figure 5). Sferco et al (2015b) published a phylogenetic analysis and erected a new clade of freshwater teleosts from the Jurassic of Gondwana, Luisiellidae, which contains Luisiella feruglioi from Patagonia and Cavenderichthys talbragarensis from New South Wales, together with the newly named Waldmanichthys koonwarri from Victoria ( Figure 6). Sferco et al (2015a) included an anatomical description of Luisiella feruglioi that highlighted its many similarities to Cavenderichthys talbragarensis and Waldmanichthys koonwarri ( Figure 5).…”