DNA barcoding reveals cryptic diversity in the underestimated genus Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae, Nemacheilinae
- PDF / 4,069,589 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 28 Downloads / 230 Views
Open Access
RESEARCH ARTICLE
DNA barcoding reveals cryptic diversity in the underestimated genus Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae, Nemacheilinae) from the northeastern Qinghai‑Tibet Plateau Tai Wang1,2, Yan‑ping Zhang2, Zhuo‑yu Yang2, Zhe Liu1* and Yan‑yan Du2*
Abstract Background: The northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) presents a high number of plateau loach species. As one of the three major groups of fishes distributed on the QTP, plateau loach has high ecological value. However, the taxonomy and systematics of these fish are still controversial, and a large number of new species have been reported. The reason for this phenomenon is that the degree of morphological variation is low, the phylogenetic information provided by morphological and anatomical features used for species identification is relatively poor, and many cryptic species are observed. Based on the high-density sampling points from the biodiversity hotspots sur‑ veyed, this study aims to evaluate the biodiversity of plateau loach in the northeastern part of the QTP and reveal the hidden diversity by comparing morphological species with molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). Results: After careful identification and comparison of the morphology and DNA barcoding of 1630 specimens, 22 species were identified, with 20 considered valid local species and two identified as new species that had not been previously described. Based on the combination of morphological and molecular methods, a total of 24 native spe‑ cies were found, two of which were cryptic species: Triplophysa robusta sp1 and Triplophysa minxianensis sp1. Fourteen of the 24 species form clusters of barcodes that allow them to be reliably identified. The remaining cases involved 10 closely related species, including rapidly differentiated species and species that seemed to have experienced incom‑ plete lineage sorting or showed introgressions. Conclusions: The results highlight the need to combine traditional taxonomies with molecular methods to correctly identify species, especially closely related species, such as the plateau loach. This study provides a basis for protecting the biodiversity of plateau loach. Keywords: DNA barcode, Qinghai-Tibet, Tibetan loach, Cryptic species
*Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 1 College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China 2 Gansu Key Laboratory of Cold Water Fishes Germplasm Resources and Genetics Breeding, Gansu Fisheries Research Institute, Lanzhou, China
Background With problems such as global climate change and issues related to populations and the ecological environment, energy and food production is becoming increasingly serious; moreover, achieving sustainable anthropogenic development and understanding and meeting the requirements of biodiversity are becoming urgent research issues [9, 36, 44]. There is a major global demand for accurate and rapid identification of species for the protection and
© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is lic
Data Loading...
