Systematics and phylogeography of the Taiwanese endemic minnow Candidia barbatus (Pisces: Cyprinidae) based on DNA sequence, allozymic, and morphological analyses

Abstract

The phylogeographical patterns of the endemic minnow, Candidia barbatus, were examined using mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b sequences, allozyme electrophoresis, and morphology. The 23 mtDNA haplotypes recovered were grouped into six lineages (A-F). According to a molecular clock of 1.7% per million years, we estimated that the colonization of C. barbatus to Taiwan took place three million years ago with several subsequent vicariance events. In the allozyme analysis, the Bayesian approach partitioned different populations into three clusters, with clusters I, II, and III mainly found in northern, central, and southern Taiwan, respectively. Morphologically, fish from north and south of the Tropic of Cancer had distinct numbers of lateral line scales and were separated into two morphs. The cohabitation of different mtDNA lineages with high allozymic and morphological similarities suggests that interbreeding amongst them is possible. Therefore, in spite of highly differentiated mtDNA, samples from different collecting sites should be considered a single species. Based on the current population distribution and levels of divergence, we propose that both orogenic activities and marine regression during glacial epoch were the two main forces shaping population differentiation of this species. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London.