title: Molecular phylogeny of the Cobitoidea (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) revisited: position of enigmatic loach Ellopostoma resolved with six nuclear genes.
abstract: Molecular variation in six nuclear genes provides substantive phylogenetic evidence for the recognition of a new cypriniform family, the Ellopostomatidae, to include the enigmatic Southern Asia loach genus Ellopostoma. The current six loach families form a monophyletic group, with the Nemacheilidae as the sister group to Ellopostomatidae; Vaillantellidae forms the sister group to all families exclusive of Botiidae. While the superfamily Cobitoidea includes eight families, the monophyly of this large clade within the Cypriniformes remains a vexing problem despite extensive molecular analyses and is in need of further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103, USA. wjchen.actinops@gmail.com
authors.forename: W-J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lheknim
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Mayden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D003531:Cypriniformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA