Journal Article
DNA barcoding fishes from the Congo and the Lower Guinean provinces: Assembling a reference library for poorly inventoried fauna
Sonet, G., Snoeks, J., Nagy, Z.T., Vreven, E., Boden, G., Breman, F.C., Decru, E., Hanssens, M., Zamba, A.I., Jordaens, K., Mamonekene, V., Musschoot, T., Van Houdt, J., Van Steen, M.
Record Number:
5534
Year:
2019
Journal:
Molecular Ecology Resources
Pages:
728-743
Volume:
19
Abstract:
The Congolese and Lower Guinean ichthyological provinces are understudied hotspots
of the global fish diversity. Here, we barcoded 741 specimens from the Lower
and Middle Congo River and from three major drainage basins of the Lower Guinean
ichthyological province, Kouilou‐Niari, Nyanga and Ogowe. We identified 194
morphospecies belonging to 82 genera and 25 families. Most morphospecies
(92.8%) corresponded to distinct clusters of DNA barcodes. Of the four morphospecies
present in both neighbouring ichthyological provinces, only one showed DNA
barcode divergence <2.5%. A small fraction of the fishes barcoded here (12.9% of
the morphospecies and 16.1% of the barcode clusters representing putative species)
were also barcoded in a previous large‐scale DNA analysis of freshwater fishes of
the Lower Congo published in 2011 (191 specimens, 102 morphospecies). We compared
species assignments before and after taxonomic updates and across studies
performed by independent research teams and observed that most cases of inconsistent
species assignments were due to unknown diversity (undescribed species
and unknown intraspecific variation). Our results report more than 17 putative new
species and show that DNA barcode data provide a measure of genetic variability
that facilitates the inventory of underexplored ichthyofaunae. However, taxonomic
scrutiny, associated with revisions and new species descriptions, is indispensable to
delimit species and build a coherent reference library.
KEYWORDS
biodiversity, Central Africa, COI, freshwater, ichthyofauna, taxonomy
Times Cited:
1
Relevent Species: