INVESTIGADORES
MIRANDE Juan Marcos
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
A phylogeny for the family Characidae (Teleostei: Characiformes)
Autor/es:
MIRANDE, JUAN MARCOS
Lugar:
Paris, Francia
Reunión:
Congreso; 23rd Annual Meeting of the Willi Hennig Society. ‘‘Phylogenetics and Evolutionary Biology’’; 2004
Institución organizadora:
Willi Hennig Society
Resumen:
The family Characidae is one of the most diverse among the Neotropical fishes, with approximately 1000 described species. A phylogeny of this family as a whole has never been published, and its monophyly is uncertain. Only a few subfamilies (Cheirodontinae, Glandulocaudinae, Serrasalminae, Stethaprioninae) and genera (Creagrutus, Deuterodon, Bramocharax, Jupiaba, Chalceus) that include less than 30% of the species of the family were treated phylogenetically. These analyses, however, did not treat the relationships of these supposedly monophyletic subunits with the remaining species of the family. The species not included so far in any phylogenetic analysis are in its majority included in a few, probably paraphyletic, genera with more than 50 species each one (Astyanax, Bryconamericus, Hemigrammus, Hyphessobrycon and Moenkhausia), and numerous monotypic genera. Most of these species are anatomically alike and belong to the subfamily Tetragonopterinae. This subfamily is currently considered as paraphyletic, although its paraphyly has not been demonstrated cladistically. This research is intended to provide a phylogeny for the family, focusing in a cladistic definition, the relationships of subunits phylogenetically defined, and the position of genera and species never treated in phylogenetic studies. The dataset was constructed with morphological data (mainly osteological) and consists of 54 species representing the diversity of forms within the family, scored for 269 informative characters (of which roughly two thirds are unpublished). The trees were rooted at Parodon sp. (Parodontidae), and Cyphocharax spilotus (Curimatidae), Leporinus striatus (Anostomidae), Hoplias sp. (Erythrinidae), and Characidium sp. (Crenuchidae) were included as outgroups. The analysis was performed using implied weighting. An experimental method to choose concavity was implemented and compared with alternative methods proposed in literature. The concavity selected produced a single tree, rather coherent with ideas previously proposed in literature. Themonophyly of the family Characidae is well supported. Other well supported groups are the genera Oligosarcus, Aphyocharax, Roeboides + Galeocharax, and the subfamilies Serrasalminae and Cheirodontinae. Tetragonopterinae, as traditionally defined, is paraphyletic in termsof Cheirodontinae and Glandulocaudinae; the genera Astyanax, Bryconamericus, and  Moenkhausia are nonmonophyletic.