Following the Mangroves: diversification in the banded lampeye Aplocheilichthys spilauchen (Duméril, 1861) (Cyprinodontiformes: Procatopodidae) along the Atlantic coast of Africa

• Published in: Hydrobiologia Vol. 848; no. 7; pp. 1433 - 1453
• Main Authors: Bragança, P. H. N., Van der Zee, J., Chakona, A., Schmidt, R. C., Stiassny, M. L. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-04-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aplocheilichthys spilauchen; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical materials; Brackish water; Brackishwater fishes; Dispersal; Distribution; Diversification; Ecology; Fish; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Genetic distance; Life Sciences; Mangroves; Miocene; Mitochondria; Outlets; Phylogeny; Primary Research Paper; Sea level; Sea level changes; Volcanic activity; Volcanism; Zoology; Mangrove dynamics; Species delimitation; Brackish water killifish; Miocene climatic shift
• ISSN: 0018-8158; 1573-5117
• DOI: 10.1007/s10750-020-04497-3

Available ecological information, an extensive distributional range, conflicting osteological data, and a proposed early Miocene origin provide the impetus for the present study which investigates genetic structuring, biogeographic, and phylogenetic relationships within the
Aplocheilichthys spilauchen
lineage. Through the analysis of the mitochondrial gene COI, species delimitation methods (ABGD, GB, GMYC, bPTP) were applied, recognizing 6–7 OTUs with absolute pairwise genetic distances ranging between 8 and 22%. The onset of diversification is estimated to be within the middle Miocene and both dispersal and vicariance-shaped
A. spilauchen
diversity and distribution, as suggested by time-calibrated and ancestral range reconstruction (S-DIVA) analyses. We report for the first time, a pattern of diversification within a lineage of brackish water fish that is concordant with the historical distribution of coastal mangroves forests, shaped by a series of historical events that likely affected forest cover since the middle Miocene (e.g. major climate shifts and sea-level fluctuations, onset of the modern Congo River outlet, increased volcanism in the Cameroon Volcanic Line).