Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2 Natural History Department, Varaždin City Museum, Varaždin, Croatia
  • 3 Croatian Institute for Biodiversity, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 4 GeneSEQ Sdn Bhd, Rawang, Malaysia
  • 5 Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  • 6 UMR CNRS 7267, Laboratoire "Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions," équipe "Ecologie, Evolution, Symbiose", Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
J Fish Biol, 2022 Nov;101(5):1225-1234.
PMID: 36054289 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15194

Abstract

Minnows of the genus Phoxinus are common and an often highly abundant fish species in Palearctic freshwater habitats. Phoxinus species have a complex evolutionary history, phylogenetic relationships are not well understood and there are a number of unresolved taxonomic problems. There are currently 23 different mitochondrial genetic lineages identified in the genus Phoxinus, 13 of which are recognized as valid species. The taxonomic status of these lineages requires resolution, including the degree to which they can interbreed. Suitable nuclear molecular markers for studies of population divergence and interbreeding between morphotypes and mitochondrial lineages are lacking for Phoxinus species. Therefore, the authors developed a set of microsatellite markers using genomic information from Phoxinus lumaireul and tested their suitability for this and two related species, Phoxinus krkae and Phoxinus marsilii. Out of 16 microsatellite candidate loci isolated, 12 were found to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium when tested on two P. lumaireul senso lato populations. Seven loci amplified across the three species, enabling the study of intraspecific genetic diversity and population structure within P. marsilii and P. krkae. The markers were able to clearly resolve differences among the three tested species, including the recently described P. krkae, and are therefore suitable for the detection of introgression and hybridization among populations consisting of mixtures of two or more of P. lumaireul s. l., P. marsilii and P. krkae.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.