Ma Ka Yan, Craig Matthew Thomas, Choat John Howard, van Herwerden Lynne
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2016 Jul;100:21-30. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.02.012. Epub 2016 Feb 21.
Groupers (family Epinephelidae) are a clade of species-rich, biologically diverse reef fishes. Given their ecological variability and widespread distribution across ocean basins, it is important to scrutinize their evolutionary history that underlies present day distributions. This study investigated the patterns and processes by which grouper biodiversity has been generated and what factors have influenced their present day distributions. We reconstructed a robust, time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of Epinephelidae with comprehensive (∼87%) species sampling, whereby diversification rates were estimated and ancestral ranges were reconstructed. Our results indicate that groupers originated in what is now the East Atlantic during the mid-Eocene and diverged successively to form six strongly supported main clades. These clades differ in age (late Oligocene to mid-Miocene), geographic origin (West Atlantic to West Indo-Pacific) and temporal-spatial diversification pattern, ranging from constant rates of diversification to episodes of rapid radiation. Overall, divergence within certain biogeographic regions was most prevalent in groupers, while vicariant divergences were more common in Tropical Atlantic and East Pacific groupers. Our findings reveal that both biological and geographical factors have driven grouper diversification. They also underscore the importance of scrutinizing group-specific patterns to better understand reef fish evolution.
石斑鱼（鮨科）是一类物种丰富、生物多样性高的珊瑚礁鱼类。鉴于它们生态的多样性以及在各大洋盆地广泛分布，仔细研究其构成现今分布格局的进化历史十分重要。本研究调查了石斑鱼生物多样性产生的模式和过程，以及影响它们现今分布的因素。我们通过全面（约87%）的物种采样，重建了一个可靠的、经过时间校准的鮨科分子系统发育树，据此估计了分化速率并重建了祖先分布范围。我们的结果表明，石斑鱼起源于始新世中期现今的东大西洋地区，随后相继分化形成六个得到有力支持的主要分支。这些分支在年龄（渐新世晚期至中新世中期）、地理起源（西大西洋至西印度洋-太平洋）和时空分化模式上存在差异，分化模式从恒定的分化速率到快速辐射事件不等。总体而言，特定生物地理区域内的分化在石斑鱼中最为普遍，而替代分化在热带大西洋和东太平洋石斑鱼中更为常见。我们的研究结果表明，生物和地理因素都推动了石斑鱼的分化。它们还强调了仔细研究特定类群模式对于更好地理解珊瑚礁鱼类进化的重要性。
