Morphology, molecules, and monogenean parasites: an example of an integrative approach to cichlid biodiversity.
The unparalleled biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika (Africa) has fascinated biologists for over a century; its unique cichlid communities are a preferred model for evolutionary research. Although species delineation is, in most cases, relatively straightforward, higher-order classifications were shown not to agree with monophyletic groups. Here, traditional morphological methods meet their limitations. A typical example are the tropheine cichlids currently belonging to Simochromis and Pseudosimochromis. The affiliations of these widespread and abundant cichlids are poorly understood. Molecular work suggested that genus and species boundaries should be revised. Moreover, previous morphological results indicated that intraspecific variation should be considered to delineate species in Lake Tanganyika cichlids. We review the genera Simochromis and Pseudosimochromis using an integrative approach. Besides a morphometric study and a barcoding approach, monogenean Cichlidogyrus (Platyhelminthes: Ancyrocephalidae) gill parasites, often highly species-specific, are used as complementary markers. Six new species are described. Cichlidogyrus raeymaekersi sp. nov., C. muterezii sp. nov. and C. banyankimbonai sp. nov. infect S. diagramma. Cichlidogyrus georgesmertensi sp. nov. was found on S. babaulti and S. pleurospilus, C. franswittei sp. nov. on both S. marginatus and P. curvifrons and C. frankwillemsi sp. nov. only on P. curvifrons. As relatedness between Cichlidogyrus species usually reflects relatedness between hosts, we considered Simochromis monotypic because the three Cichlidogyrus species found on S. diagramma belonged to a different morphotype than those found on the other Simochromis. The transfer of S. babaulti, S. marginatus, S. pleurospilus and S. margaretae to Pseudosimochromis was justified by the similarity of their Cichlidogyrus fauna and the intermediate morphology of S. margaretae. Finally parasite data also supported the synonymy between S. pleurospilus and S. babaulti, a species that contains a large amount of geographical morphological variation.
Biology Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Institute of Zoology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Maarten
M
Van Steenberge
Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, IRD-CNRS-Université Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Antoine
A
Pariselle
Biology Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Tine
T
Huyse
Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Filip A M
FA
Volckaert
Biology Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jos
J
Snoeks
Biology Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece.
Maarten P M
MP
Vanhove
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D023681:Cichlids / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005880:Gills / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000469:parasitology; D058507:Host Specificity; D060106:Lakes / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D010986:Platyhelminths / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013045:Species Specificity; D013636:Tanzania