title: Cryptic species and historical biogeography of eel gobies (Gobioidei: Odontamblyopus) along the northwestern Pacific coast.
abstract: Cryptic species are common in gobioid fishes, as revealed by recent molecular studies. This study collected molecular and morphological data to delimit species boundaries and to reveal the historical biogeography of Odontamblyopus lacepedii sensu lato by sampling 87 specimens from 16 locations in the northwestern Pacific. Phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 sequences identified three major clades. Clear morphological separations among these clades were detected by examining morphological characters used in taxonomic diagnosis. Therefore, these clades were delineated as three separate species: O. lacepedii sensu stricto (in the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Gulf of Bohai, and Ariake Bay); O. sp. (in the southern East China Sea and southern Yellow Sea); and O. rebecca (in the Gulf of Tonkin, northern South China Sea, and southern East China Sea). Estimated divergence times were 0.61 +/- 0.15 Ma between O. lacepedii and O. sp., and 2.31+/-0.36 Ma between O. rebecca and O. lacepedii+O. sp. These findings indicate that isolation of marginal seas and habitat fragmentation during major falls in sea level in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene may have been responsible for genetic breaks among Odontamblyopus species in the northwestern Pacific.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, and Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Weixing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lshimatsu
authors.forename: Cuizhang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qianhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010473:Perciformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity