Molecular and taxonomic characterisation of introduced specimens of Poecilia reticulata in lower Paraguay River basin (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae).

ROSSO, J.J.; DEL ROSSO F.; MABRAGAÑA, EZEQUIEL; SCHENONE, N.; AVIGLIANO, E.; DÍAZ DE ASTARLOA, J. M.

NEOTROPICAL ICHTHYOLOGY

SOC BRASILEIRA ICTIOLOGIA

Lugar: Porto Alegre; Año: 2017 vol. 15

1679-6225

Poeciliids comprise around 300 species inhabiting the fresh and brackish waters of the Americas and Africa. Poeciliareticulata is native to Northeastern South America and Trinidad and Tobago. In this paper, introduced specimens of P.reticulata collected in the lower Paraguay River in Argentina, were characterized by means of molecular and taxonomicapproaches. We further explore, by means of DNA Barcoding, the singularity of the genetic identity of these specimens.Ocurrence of P. reticulata in the lower Paraguay River represents the first record of this species in Argentina. Thirteenindividuals of P. reticulata were collected. DNA barcoding showed that all five specimens sampled belong to a singlemitochondrial lineage, which was also present in 11 countries from five continents. The distance-based tree clearlygrouped separetely four different clusters of P. reticulata when including public data. Genetic distance between themost divergent P. reticulata almost paralleled distance between this species and Poecilia mexicana and P. vivipara.Established populations from Paraguay could be one of the plausible sources for the introduced populations recorded inthe lower Paraguay River. The presence of P. reticulata in an open waterway with known drainage to a natural stream isof major concern