Schmidt Ray C, Bart Henry L, Pezold Frank
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, United States; Smithsonian Mpala Postdoctoral Fellow, Mpala Research Centre, PO Box 555, 10400 Nanyuki, Kenya.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, United States.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2016 Jul;100:199-205. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.018. Epub 2016 Apr 19.
Freshwater systems are under threat globally, yet the biodiversity in many areas is still unknown. This is especially true for the aquatic biodiversity of the Upper Guinean forests of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. Access to this area is largely restricted, though recent surveys by the authors are allowing us to reassess the area's diversity. This area has vast mineral reserves and hydroelectric potential. As the area emerges from civil strife and the recent public health crisis, policy makers and resource managers require accurate accounts of biodiversity to evaluate future development projects. Here we look at the diversity of the suckermouth catfishes (Chiloglanis) populations from the area; inferred from mitochondrial (cyt b) and nuclear (Growth Hormone intron) markers. The phylogenies revealed additional lineages, independent of the currently recognized taxa, suggesting the presence of ten new candidate species. These new taxa are largely endemic and allopatrically distributed in rivers of the Upper Guinean forests. Our results suggest that the aquatic diversity within the Upper Guinean forests is currently underestimated. This study provides the foundation for elucidating the historical biogeography of the region and highlights the endemism within rivers in the Upper Guinean forests and surrounding areas.
淡水系统在全球范围内受到威胁，但许多地区的生物多样性仍然未知。几内亚、塞拉利昂、利比里亚和科特迪瓦上几内亚森林的水生生物多样性尤其如此。进入该地区在很大程度上受到限制，不过作者最近的调查使我们能够重新评估该地区的多样性。该地区拥有丰富的矿产储量和水电潜力。随着该地区摆脱内乱和近期的公共卫生危机，政策制定者和资源管理者需要准确的生物多样性记录来评估未来的发展项目。在这里，我们研究了该地区吸口鲶（Chiloglanis）种群的多样性；从线粒体（细胞色素b）和核（生长激素内含子）标记推断得出。系统发育揭示了独立于目前已确认分类群的其他谱系，表明存在十个新的候选物种。这些新分类群大多是地方性的，在几内亚上几内亚森林的河流中呈异域分布。我们的结果表明，目前对上几内亚森林内的水生生物多样性估计不足。这项研究为阐明该地区的历史生物地理学奠定了基础，并突出了上几内亚森林及周边地区河流中的特有性。
