Date of Award

Spring 1984

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Kent Carpenter

Committee Member

John Holsinger

Committee Member

Christopher Osgood

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 S26 2007

Abstract

Species and genera of Haemulidae have undergone various taxonomic revisions, however, there is no study that infers the phylogeny of the haemulid genera using morphological or molecular data. The purpose of this study was to use approximately 1386 base pairs of the nuclear Recombination Activation Gene-I (RAG1) from 35 haemulid species representing 13 genera, one species of the closely related Inermiidae, and two species of the outgroup Sparidae to infer an intrafamilial phylogeny of Haemulidae. This analysis is corroborated using approximately 650 base pairs of the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene and RAG I-COI combined gene analyses of27 haemulids, an inermiid, and two sparids. Results show strong support for a monophyletic Haemulidae. However, the placement of Inermiidae within the proposed superfamily Haemuloidea remains unresolved. The subfamilies Haemulinae and

Plectorhinchinae are recovered from both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses using RAG I, COI, and RAG I-COI genes combined. These analyses also recovered similar clade components within these subfamilies, with some exemptions. The RAG I gene phylogeny combined with distribution data also revealed a biogeographic pattern that suggests a specific radiation of haemulids. There was strong support for a basal paraphyletic Old World (coastal Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and western central Pacific) group, a derived monophyletic New World (coastal Americas) group, and an intermediate Old World-New World group, which can be accounted for by the closing Tethys Sea and Atlantic Ocean widening vicariant events. In addition, molecular data using RAG1 and COI genes also highlighted potential problems regarding the validity of several haemulid genera and suggest a re-evaluation of these genera. Finally, this study indicates that the nuclear RAG I gene is useful for inferring phylogeny at the intrafamilial level for this percoid family of fishes.

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DOI

10.25777/n9hh-9v94

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