title: Integrative taxonomy supports new candidate fish species in a poorly studied neotropical region: the Jequitinhonha River Basin.
abstract: Molecular identification through DNA barcoding has been proposed as a way to standardize a global biodiversity identification system using a partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene. We applied an integrative approach using DNA barcoding and traditional morphology-based bioassessment to identify fish from a neotropical region possessing low taxonomic knowledge: the Jequitinhonha River Basin (Southeastern Brazil). The Jequitinhonha River Basin (JRB) has a high rate of endemism and is considered an area of high priority for fish conservation, with estimates indicating the presence of around 110 native and non-indigenous species. DNA barcodes were obtained from 260 individuals belonging to 52 species distributed among 35 genera, 21 families and 6 orders, including threatened and rare species such as Rhamdia jequitinhonha and Steindachneridion amblyurum. The mean Kimura two-parameter genetic distances within species, genera and families were: 0.44, 12.16 and 20.58 %, respectively. Mean intraspecific genetic variation ranged from 0 to 11.43 %, and high values (>2 %) were recovered for five species. Species with a deep intraspecific distance, possibly flagging overlooked taxa, were detected within the genus Pimelodella. Fifteen species, only identified to the genus level, had unique BINs, with a nearest neighbor distance over 2 % and therefore, potential new candidate species supported by DNA barcoding. The integrative taxonomy approach using DNA barcoding and traditional taxonomy may be a remedy to taxonomy impediment, accelerating species identification by flagging potential new candidate species and to adequately conserve the megadiverse neotropical ichthyofauna.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia de Vertebrados, Laboratório de Genética da Conservação, PUC Minas, Rua Dom José Gaspar, 500, 30535-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina Lages
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pugedo
authors.affiliation: Projeto Jequictio, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francisco Ricardo
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: de Andrade Neto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ictiologia, Museu de Ciências Naturais, PUC Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiago Casarim
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Pessali
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Animal e Vegetal, UEL, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Luís Olivan
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Birindelli
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia de Vertebrados, Laboratório de Genética da Conservação, PUC Minas, Rua Dom José Gaspar, 500, 30535-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. danielcarvalho@pucminas.br.
authors.forename: Daniel Cardoso
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005399:Fishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010802:Phylogeny; D045483:Rivers; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: Barcode COI; Candidate species; Freshwater fish; Molecular taxonomy