Diverse processes shape deep phylogeographical divergence in Cobitis sinensis (Teleostei: Cobitidae) in East Asia |
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Authors: | Jun Zhao Po‐Hsun Kuo Teh‐Wang Lee Kui‐Ching Hsu |
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Institution: | 1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environment Science in Guangdong Higher Education, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, , Guangzhou, China;2. Department of Industrial Management, Taiwan University of Science and Technology, , Taipei, Taiwan;3. Endemic Species Research Institute, , Nantou, Taiwan |
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Abstract: | Little has been known about the impacts of past vicariance events on the phylogeography and population structure of freshwater fishes in East Asia. The aims of this study are to assess the genetic variability with extensive sampling throughout the range of Chinese spiny loach, Cobitis sinensis, and to infer the genetic structure and evolutionary history of populations. Cobitis sinensis in China may have initiated from two ancestral populations, namely Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, which diverged about 7.24 MYA likely due to drainage systems alteration. In the phylogroup I, a southward dispersal event occurred from East China (Yangtze River) to south ZheMin and Hainan subregions, followed by eastward dispersal from ZheMin to south Taiwan. In the phylogroup II, eastward colonization took place from Pearl River to north Taiwan in the late Pliocene, coupled with loss of genetic diversity in the island populations. This study showed that Cenozoic tectonic movements and climatic and sea‐level fluctuations may have shaped the genetic structure of C. sinensis in concert. Highly diverged mtDNA sequences suggest existence of cryptic species in morphospecies C. sinensis. |
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Keywords: |
Cobitis sinensis
coalescence cryptic species tectonic movements phylogeography |
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