Vol. 57, 2018 (update: 2018.05.14; 06.11) Phylogeographical and Morphological Analyses of Triplophysa stenura (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) from the Three Parallel Rivers Region, ChinaQiu Ren1, Jun-Xing Yang1,*, and Xiao-Yong Chen1,2,* doi:10.6620/ZS.2018.57-26
1Kunming
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan
650223, P.R. China (Received 22 December 2017; Accepted 22 April
2018; Communicated by Ka Hou Chu) Qiu
Ren, Jun-Xing Yang, and Xiao-Yong Chen (2018) Triplophysa stenura
is an indigenous and widely distributed loach in the Qinghai-Tibet
plateau and adjacent Three Parallel Rivers region of China.
Morphological and phylogenetic analyses were performed in order to
explore the genetic and morphological variation in T. stenura populations
from different geographic regions and infer the divergence time and
relationships between populations from the three rivers (Jinsha River,
Nu River and Lancang River). Two mitochondrial genes (Cyt b,
D-Loop) and 35 morphological characters were selected for genetic and
morphological analyses, respectively. Phylogenetic and network analyses
reveal that T. stenura is a
single lineage with three well supported clades strictly corresponding
to specific river systems. Divergence time analysis suggests that the
divergence of T. stenura and
formation of the Three Parallel Rivers are closely associated with the
Kun-Huang Movement (1.1-0.6 MYA), which lead to the uplift of the
Qinghai-Tibet plateau. AMOVA reveals that there is moderate genetic
differentiation among populations. Results from ANOVA suggest that
several morphological characters show significant variation among
populations and drainages. Descriptive morphological variation (e.g., color pattern) in different
populations of T. stenura
clarifies a set of characters that can be used to accurately identify
members of this group in the future. We conclude that T. stenura has moderate population
genetic structure and character variation in this study area and the
divergence and evolution of T.
stenura is associated with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet
plateau. Key words: Triplophysa stenura, Phylogeny,
Morphology, Biogeography, Three Parallel Rivers region. *Correspondence: E-mail: yangjx@mail.kiz.ac.cn;
chenxy@mail.kiz.ac.cn Supplementary Material: Table S1 |