Historical biogeography of fishes of the South China Sea in relation to the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26840131
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: Tokai University (2016); Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (2014-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Muto Nozomu 東海大学, 生物学部, 講師 (50724267)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): ISHIKAWA Satoshi 総合地球環境学研究所, 教授 (40433908) ; MOTOMURA Hiroyuki 鹿児島大学, 総合研究博物館, 教授 (90433086) ; TAKESHIMA Hirohiko 総合地球環境学研究所, 特任助教 (50573086)
• Research Collaborator: MUTO Fumihito 東海大学, 海洋学部, 准教授 ; Babaran Ricardo P. フィリピン大学, 教授 ; KAKIOKA Ryo 国立遺伝学研究所, 研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 南シナ海 / 更新世 / 系統地理 / 魚類

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We aimed to clarify historical processes contributing to the marine fish diversity in the South China Sea, focusing on the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing was employed to infer historical population dynamics in 18 selected fish species. In some species, specimens from the South China Sea were separated into two divergent clades on mtDNA gene tree, suggesting that they have experienced historical divergence due to the sea level changes in the Pleistocene, followed by secondary contact.
For a subset of the aforementioned species, nuclear DNA divergence was tested using microsatellite genotyping. The species tested exhibited clear nuclear divergence between the two mtDNA clades, indicating that they are representing separate species. Taken together, our results showed that the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles have contributed to the present marine fish diversity in the South China Sea, both at the intraspecific- and the species-level.

Free Research Field

魚類体系学