Phylogeographical Analysis of the Freshwater Gudgeon Huigobio chenhsienensis (Cypriniformes: Gobionidae) in Southern China

Abstract

The freshwater gudgeon Huigobio chenhsienensis (Cypriniformes: Gobionidae) is a small fish endemic to southern China. In this study, we used mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb), from wide-ranging samplings of H. chenhsienensis from the Ou River (the central of southern China) to the Yangtze River Basin (the northernmost part of southern China) to explore genetic variations and the evolutionary history of H. chenhsienensis in southern China. In total, 66 haplotypes were identified from Cytb sequences of 142 H. chenhsienensis individuals, which could be divided into lineages A, B, and C with divergence times of ~4.24 Ma and ~3.03 Ma. Lineage A was distributed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Oujiang River, and the Jiao River, lineage B was distributed in the Qiantang River and the Cao’e River, whereas lineage C was restricted to the Poyang Lake drainage from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Lineage A could be subdivided into sub-lineages A-I, A-II, A-III, and A-IV, with divergence times of 1.30, 0.97, and 0.44 Ma. Lineage C could be subdivided into sub-lineages C-I and C-II, with a divergence time of 0.85 Ma. Our findings indicate that climate change during the Pliocene and Pleistocene eras, as well as the limited dispersal ability of H. chenhsienensis, have been major drivers for shaping the phylogeographical patterns of H. chenhsienensis.

The role of landscape evolution in the genetic diversification of a stream fish Sarcocheilichthys parvus from Southern China

“…Due to the maximum sea level drop of about 130 m during the Last Glacial Maximum (Lambeck et al, 2014;Yokoyama et al, 2018), paleo-drainages related to the distribution drainages for S. parvus from the present coastline to the sea floor depth of −130 m were reconstructed using GIS technology, with reference to Thomaz et al (2015). Using the ArcGIS v10.3 software, GEBCO_2014 Grid (30 arc-seconds interval) as input data were downloaded from the General bathymetric chart of the oceans (http://www.gebco.net/) project, and a series of hydrological tools were used to create visualized paleo-drainages [for further details, see Yang et al (2022)].…”

“…Phylogeographic research on freshwater fish has continued to play an important role in understanding the underlying causal factors shaping inter-and intra-specific genetic variations of freshwater fish biodiversity across contemporary isolated drainages (Shelley et al, 2020;Van Steenberge et al, 2020;Waters et al, 2020;Lima et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2022). Landscape evolution, either through tectonic activities or drainage rearrangements, has been considered to be a major driver for the diversification of obligate freshwater fishes (Burridge, et al, 2006;Unmack et al, 2013;Swartz et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2014;Zúñiga-Vega et al, 2014;Craw et al, 2016;Lima et al, 2017;Souza et al, 2020;Sholihah et al, 2021;Barreto et al, 2022;Souto-Santos et al, 2022;Val et al, 2022).…”

“…After the uplift of the Nanling and Wuyi Mountains (Figure 1) around 15-10 Ma, the modern coastal drainages in southern China were established and have remained in a relatively stable configuration (Yan et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2021). The northern species range limit for endemic freshwater fishes in southern China is often the Yangtze River (Chai and Fu, 2020;Yang et al, 2022). Stream capture, paleodrainage connections, and episodic freshwater connections have been widely invoked to explain the genetic divergence, secondary contact, and range expansion of freshwater fishes among contemporary isolated drainages in southern China (Yang and He, 2008;Yang et al, 2009;Xu et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2022).…”

“…Some authors have indicated that riverine impoundments (large reservoirs) create a gradient of hydrological and limnological conditions, functioning as ecological barriers against downstream movements for rheophilic freshwater fishes (Fluker et al, 2014;Pelicice et al, 2015). The results of a recent study indicated genetic differences in the freshwater gudgeon Huigobio chenhsienensis (Cypriniformes: Gobionidae) among the major tributaries flowing into the Poyang Lake (Yang et al, 2022). Therefore, we hypothesize that the Poyang Lake may serve as an ecological barrier, restraining dispersal and facilitating genetic divergence in stream-adapting freshwater fishes among the major tributaries within the Poyang Lake sub-drainage.…”

“…Despite much progress having been made in understanding how landscape evolution has shaped the phylogeographic patterns of freshwater fishes in southern China over time (Yang and He, 2008;Yang et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2022), a detailed picture of how their genetic divergence arises in this region is still poorly understood. For this study, we selected Sarcocheilichthys parvus as a model, in order to further improve our knowledge about the drivers and processes determining the intraspecific genetic variation of freshwater fishes in southern China.…”