title: Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the Cuban cave-fishes of the genus Lucifuga: evidence for cryptic allopatric diversity.
abstract: Underground environments are increasingly recognized as reservoirs of faunal diversity. Extreme environmental conditions and limited dispersal ability of underground organisms have been acknowledged as important factors promoting divergence between species and conspecific populations. However, in many instances, there is no correlation between genetic divergence and morphological differentiation. Lucifuga Poey is a stygobiotic fish genus that lives in Cuban and Bahamian caves. In Cuba, it offers a unique opportunity to study the influence of habitat fragmentation on the genetic divergence of stygobiotic species and populations. The genus includes four species and one morphological variant that have contrasting geographical distributions. In this study, we first performed a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Lucifuga Cuban species using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. The mitochondrial phylogeny revealed three deeply divergent clades that were supported by nuclear and morphological characters. Within two of these main clades, we identified five lineages that are candidate cryptic species and a taxonomical synonymy between Lucifuga subterranea and Lucifuga teresinarum. Secondly, phylogeographic analysis using a fragment of the cytochrome b gene was performed for Lucifuga dentata, the most widely distributed species. We found strong geographical organization of the haplotype clades at different geographic scales that can be explained by episodes of dispersal and population expansion followed by population fragmentation and restricted gene flow. At a larger temporal scale, these processes could also explain the diversification and the distribution of the different species.
authors: Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de la Habana, Calle 16, No. 114 entre 1ra y 3ra, Miramar, Playa, Ciudad Habana 11300, Cuba.
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: García-Machado
authors: Damir
authors: D
authors: Hernández
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: García-Debrás
authors: Pedro
authors: P
authors: Chevalier-Monteagudo
authors: Cushla
authors: C
authors: Metcalfe
authors: Louis
authors: L
authors: Bernatchez
authors: Didier
authors: D
authors: Casane
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059552:Caves; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D003462:Cuba; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial