title: Evolutionary affinities of the unfathomable Parabrotulidae: Molecular data indicate placement of Parabrotula within the family Bythitidae, Ophidiiformes.
abstract: Fishes are widely diverse in shape and body size and can quite rapidly undergo these changes. Consequently, some relationships are not clearly resolved with morphological analyses. In the case of fishes of small body size, informative characteristics can be absent due to simplification of body structures. The Parabrotulidae, a small family of diminutive body size consisting of two genera and three species has most recently been classified as either a perciform within the suborder Zoarcoidei or an ophidiiform. Classification of parabrotulids as ophidiiforms has become predominant; however the Parabrotulidae has not yet been investigated in a molecular phylogenetic framework. We examine molecular data from ten genetic loci to more specifically place the Parabrotulidae within the fish tree of life. In a hypothesis testing framework, the Parabrotulidae as a zoarcoid taxon is rejected. Previous identity with zoarcoids due to the one fin ray for each vertebra being present, a characteristic for the Zoarcidae, appears to be an example of convergence. Our results indicate that parabrotulids are viviparous ophidiiforms within the family Bythitidae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA. Electronic address: DrMacCampbell@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jørgen G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba 260-8682, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sado
authors.affiliation: Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0485, Japan.
authors.forename: Chuya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shinzato
authors.affiliation: DNA Sequencing Section, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0485, Japan.
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Nishimuro, Wakayama 649-2211, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba 260-8682, Japan. Electronic address: Miya@chiba-muse.or.jp.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D058889:Molecular Typing; D010473:Perciformes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
keywords: Ophidiiformes; Parabrotulidae; Partitioned analysis; Perciformes; Zoarcoidei