Postulating the Modality of Integrative Taxonomy in Describing the Cryptic Congener Pampus griseus (Cuvier) and Systematics of the Genus Pampus (Perciformes: Stromateidae)

Abstract

Pomfrets (genus Pampus), a highly commercial fishery resource distributed in the Indo-Western Pacific that includes Lessepsian migrants, have witnessed a series of systematic reforms. In this study, based on comprehensive sampling spanning type localities and coevals in the Northern Indian Ocean, the cryptic and valid species Stromateus griseus is resurrected from the synonymy and re-described as Pampus griseus (New Combination) based on 35 specimens from the Bay of Bengal, corroborated by a molecular analysis, which indicated a confined distribution of the species. The Bayesian phylogeny of the genus was reconstructed, incorporating redressed barcodes (582 nucleotides) and concatenated mitochondrial gene sequence data (1,822 nucleotides) generated from the recorded species P. candidus, P. chinensis and the neophyte along with sequences from GenBank entrusting the latest literature. The phylograms differed in topology as for seven valid species, and the one predicated on the concatenated data erected a highly supported polytomous clade for the P. cinereus complex (P. griseus, P. cinereus, and P. candidus) which shares synapomorphies. Pampus argenteus and P. minor, together, formed a sister clade to the rest. Climate-driven vicariant events during glacial epochs and the Indo-Pacific Barrier effect can be the drivers behind the Indian and Pacific Ocean sister lineages in P. chinensis. A multivariate analysis isolated the cryptic species from its congeners. This article portrays the systematics revision of genus Pampus with an integrative taxonomic approach compiling distinctive molecular, morphological, and anatomical features, revised key for species identification, taxonomic archives of Indian stromateids, and winds up with specific remarks.

Resolved and Redeemed: A New Fleck to the Evolutionary Divergence in the Genus Scomberomorus Lacepède, 1801 (Scombridae) With Cryptic Speciation

“…The number of vertebrae is often cited as a meristic character of diagnostic importance in fish taxonomy. The count sometimes differs between populations of a species along with its geographical range, or across the ranges of related species (e.g., Roul et al, 2021), similar to the observations here. Parallel differences in vertebral counts can also occur within the species (Hubbs, 1922).…”

Species diversity and distribution of genus Pampus (Pelagiaria: Stromateidae) based on global mitochondrial data

“…The genus Pampus Bonaparte, 1834, of the family Stromateidae Rafinesque, 1810, is distinct in having a compressed, silvery body, elongated pelvic bone, absence of pelvic fins, and more than five blade-like spines before their falcate dorsal and anal fins [but spine is absent in Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen, 1788), Liu et al, 2002;Liu et al, 2013a]. Members of the genus Pampus are commercially important fishes in the Indo-West Pacific area (Liu et al, 2002;Radhakrishnan et al, 2019;Roul et al, 2021). There have been concerted efforts to study their reproductive biology, evolution, and population genetics of the Pampus species (e.g., Dadzie et al, 2000;Gupta, 2020;Fan et al, 2022).…”

“…Although Jawad and Liu (2017) stated several differences between P. nozawae and its congeners, the examined specimens are collected from Southeast Asia instead of Japan, which presumed P. nozawae as a species broadly distributed through Southeast Asia to Japan. Roul et al (2021) resurrected P. griseus (Cuvier 1833) and assumed that P. griseus inhabits the Indian Ocean, whereas its close relative, P. cinereus, only inhabits the western Pacific, although it is incongruent with the statement by Bloch and Schneider (1801) that P. cinereus inhabits waters around Tranquebar (i.e., Tharangambadi, India). Obviously, taxonomic issues of these Pampus species are accompanied by potential confusion on species distributions.…”

“…Molecular tools have been utilized to distinguish the Pampus species and studied their phylogeny and population genetics (e.g., Sun et al, 2012;Li et al, 2019;Roul et al, 2021). Over 1,500 DNA sequences of the genus Pampus have been deposited on GenBank and the Barcoding of Life Database (BOLD) with well-documented sampling localities in the databases and published studies, which provided a suitable dataset for studying species diversity and distribution of the genus Pampus.…”

“…Over 1,500 DNA sequences of the genus Pampus have been deposited on GenBank and the Barcoding of Life Database (BOLD) with well-documented sampling localities in the databases and published studies, which provided a suitable dataset for studying species diversity and distribution of the genus Pampus. However, misidentification of the Pampus sequences frequently occurs (Roul et al, 2021;Wei et al, 2021), which greatly impedes the progress to clarify their taxonomy and distributions. In our previous study, Wei et al (2021) provided reliable barcodes of cytochrome oxidase unit I (COXI) and cytochrome b (Cytb) from 74 specimens of seven Pampus species (i.e., P. argenteus, P. candidus, P. chinensis, P. cinereus, P. liuorum, P. minor, and P. punctatissimus).…”