Phylogeny of moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae), with a revised classification of true eels (Teleostei: Elopomorpha: Anguilliformes)

Abstract

The family Muraenidae is one of the largest and most recognizable eel groups. Moray eels are key components of marine ecosystems but their relationships remain poorly understood. The phylogenetic relationships of the morays are examined herein using mitochondrial 12S and 16S sequence data, totaling 1673 bp for 139 taxa. The results of our analyses found support for a monophyletic family Muraenidae that is part of a monophyletic suborder Muraenoidei, which is revised to include the anguilliform families Heterenchelyidae and Myrocongridae, and to exclude the family Chlopsidae. The muraenids form two monophyletic subfamilies, Muraeninae and Uropterygiinae. Of the genera that had multiple species included for analysis, only the type genus of the family, Muraena, is found to be monophyletic. In the subfamily Uropterygiinae, Uropterygius is not recovered as a monophyletic genus. In the subfamily Muraeninae, the species-rich piscivorous genera, Enchelycore and Gymnothorax, and the durophagous genus, Echidna, are demonstrably not monophyletic. The monotypic Gymnomuraena is the sister group to all other muraenine species. The relationships within Muraenidae require much additional study and its genera remain in urgent need of revision. The order Anguilliformes is revised herein to include four suborders: Anguilloidei, Congroidei, Muraenoidei, and Synaphobranchoidei. All four families of the order Saccopharyngiformes are nested within Anguilliformes, recovered as part of a clade that includes Anguillidae; the saccopharyngiform families are referred to the suborder Anguilloidei sensu novum.

The Gill-Arch Musculature ofProtanguilla, the Morphologically Most Primitive Eel (Teleostei: Anguilliformes), Compared with That of Other Putatively Primitive Extant Eels and Other Elopomorphs

“…More eel families should be examined for the presence of SPh, but we suggest that SPh may be synapomorphic for a large clade of anguilliform families. In this regard, we mention that recent analyses based on molecular data (e.g., Inoue et al, 2010;Johnson et al, 2012;Tang and Fielitz, 2013) proposed that Synaphobranchidae is either the sister group of, or closely related to, the Protanguillidae, which lacks SPh, and is morphologically the sister group of all other eels.…”

“…Johnson et al (2012), 20 eel families, four best scoring maximum likelihood trees: a) whole mitochondrial genome, 12 n r 3 r RT n data set (13,056 bp): (Ne) sister group of (An+Se) b) 12 n r RT n data set (10,028 bp): (Ne) sister group of (An+Se) c) 12 n r 3 r RT n data set (13,056 bp), topological constraint enforcing the most basal Protanguilla within the Anguilliformes: (Ne) sister group of (An+Se) d) 12 n r 3 r RT n data set (13,056 bp), topological constraint enforcing monophyly of the non-synaphobranchid anguilliforms: (Ne) sister group of (An+Se) 4. Tang and Fielitz (2013), 20 eel families, two mitochondrial genes: topology based on best likelihood topology score: a) (Se) is sister group of (An+Ne). 5.…”

“…Additionally, we comment on other characters and synapomorphies that appear independently in other elopomorphs and less closely related teleostean taxa. For comparison, we include the description of the gill-arch muscles of a specialized eel species of the family Serrivomeridae, which three molecular studies have suggested is closely related to the Anguillidae: Johnson et al (2012) and Tang and Fielitz (2013), which placed Serrivomeridae and Anguillidae as sister groups, and Inoue et al (2010), which placed Serrivomeridae + Nemichthyidae as sister to the Anguillidae.…”

Evolutionary Biology: Biodiversification from Genotype to Phenotype

“…17.2. Briefly, gulper eels ("Saccopharyngiformes") are one of the lineages nested within the true eels or Anguilliformes (Chen et al 2014a, b;Inoue et al 2004Inoue et al , 2010Johnson et al 2012;Tang and Fielitz 2012). The monophyly of Albuliformes sensu lato [see Nelson (Nelson 2006)'s classification] is not recovered (Chen et al 2014a, b;Santini et al 2013).…”

“…Thus, the elopomorph fishes should be redefined in four orders, namely Elopiformes, Albuliformes sensu Forey et al 1996, Notacanthiformes, and Anguilliformes (inclusive of "Saccopharyngiformes"), and the "Saccopharyngiformes" should be discarded ( Fig. 17.2) (Chen et al 2014a;Santini et al 2013;Tang and Fielitz 2012). Finally, within the Anguilliformes, four monophyletic groups (Protanguilloidei, Muraenoidei, Anguilloidei, and Congroidei) should be included (Chen et al 2014a, b).…”