title: Phylogeny of suckermouth catfishes (Mochokidae: Chiloglanis) from Kenya: the utility of Growth Hormone introns in species level phylogenies.
abstract: African suckermouth catfishes (Mochokidae: Chiloglanis) occur in freshwater throughout tropical Africa. Specimens from all major drainages across Kenya were collected over three field seasons. Here we present a phylogeny inferred from both mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) and introns of the nuclear Growth Hormone gene (GH). The phylogeny inferred from introns is largely congruent with the results from an analysis of cyt b. The length and variability of GH introns make them ideal species level nuclear markers without the problem of introgression commonly encountered with mitochondrial genes. This analysis confirmed the presence of two previously known undescribed Chiloglanis species and also suggests the presence of previously unknown diversity within the Athi River system. The resulting phylogeny also indicates the presence of two separate lineages within C. brevibarbis. The historical biogeography of Chiloglanis within Kenya is discussed. The utility of GH intron for species level phylogenies of Siluriformes is compared to that in other groups.
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, United States. Electronic address: rschmidt@tulane.edu.
authors: Ray C
authors: RC
authors: Schmidt
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, United States.
authors: Henry L
authors: HL
authors: Bart
authors: Ichthyology Section, National Museums of Kenya, PO Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors: Dorothy Wanja
authors: DW
authors: Nyingi
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, PO Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors: Nathan Ndegwa
authors: NN
authors: Gichuki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002397:Catfishes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns; D007630:Kenya; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers; D013006:Growth Hormone
keywords: East Africa; Gap coding; Nuclear markers