Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA: Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Relationships in Two Fish Taxa (Pisces: Mugilidae and Cyprinidae)

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A. V. Semina^1*, N. E. Polyakova¹, and Vl. A. Brykov^1,2

¹Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Pal'chevskogo 17, 690041 Vladivostok, Russia; fax: (4232) 310-900; E-mail: alicesem@rambler.ru; neonpol@rambler.ru; vlbrykov@mail.ru

²Far Eastern State University, ul. Oktyabr'skaya 27, 690600 Vladivostok, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received July 18, 2007

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To solve some systematic questions as well as to study genetic variability and evolutionary relationships in two groups of fish belonging to the Mugilid (Mugilidae) and Cyprinid (Cyprinidae) families, we have used restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments amplified in polymerase chain reaction. The analysis of three mtDNA fragments of 7220 bp total length of six Mugilid species has shown that Mediterranean Liza aurata, L. ramada, L. saliens, and Chelon labrosus form a common cluster, L. aurata and C. labrosus being the closest relatives, whereas L. haematocheilus (syn. C. haematocheilus) of the Sea of Japan forms a sister group to the Mediterranean cluster. It was found that Chelon and Liza genera are paraphyletic, and therefore their division into two genera is unnatural and they should be synonymized. According to priority, Liza species should be ascribed to Chelon genus. Mugil cephalus is the most distant compared to the rest of the species studied. The level of genetic divergence between allopatric samples of M. cephalus from the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean Sea has proved to be very high--4.5% of nucleotide substitutions. The analysis of four mtDNA fragments of 9340 bp total length of six Cyprinid species has shown that L. waleckii is the most genetically distant. Pseudaspius leptocephalus is a sister group to Tribolodon species. All Tribolodon species form a common cluster with T. sachalinensis as a root. The remaining species form two branches, one of which includes T. nakamurai and T. brandtii, another one combines T. hakonensis and a new form of Tribolodon revealed that is close to T. hakonensis by its mtDNA (2.4% of nucleotide substitutions). This new form might be an independent species.

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KEY WORDS: Mugilidae, Cyprinidae, Tribolodon, PCR-RFLP, mtDNA, phylogeny

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297907120085

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