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Contribution to the molecular phylogenetic analysis of extant holocephalan fishes (Holocephali, Chimaeriformes)

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Abstract

Much attention has been paid to the molecular phylogeny of holocephalan fishes during recent years, but sampling was very low and not all genera were examined. This study offers an extended sampling of species from all known genera to clarify their phylogeny and to provide an estimate of the time of origin of extant holocephalan taxa. Three mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) were sequenced and analysed using a variety of phylogenetic methods (Bayes, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony). Callorhinchidae diverged from Rhinochimaeridae and Chimaeridae about 187 Ma ago. Chimaeridae and Rhinochimaeridae diverged from each other about 159 Ma ago. Within Rhinochimaeridae, Neoharriotta is the sister genus to the closely related Harriotta and Rhinochimaera. Eight species of the family Chimaeridae, belonging to the genera Hydrolagus and Chimaera, were examined. They probably had a common ancestor about 107 Ma ago and appear paraphyletic. These results indicate that the traditional morphological generic definition of the families Rhinochimaeridae and Chimaeridae has to be reinvestigated.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Matthias Schneider (Frankfurt), Axel Zarske (Dresden), Ralf Thiel (Hamburg), Friedhelm Krupp (Frankfurt), and Ulrich Schliewen (Munich) for the donation of tissue material. For help in the collections we thank Dirk Neumann (Munich) and Irina Eidus (Hamburg). This study has benefited greatly from the hearty help of Anja Rauh (Dresden) during the laboratory work. We also thank Peter Last (Sydney), Heiko Stuckas (Dresden), and Nicolas Straube (Munich) for discussions on molecular work methods and approaches, and Michael Buchwitz and Jan Fischer (both Freiberg) for comments on the manuscript and help with the figures. We are grateful to Jason Dunlop, Berlin, for correction of the English language. A portion of this study was supported by the molecular laboratory of Dresden; for this purpose we thank Anna K. Hundsdörfer and Uwe Fritz (both Dresden). Last but not least we want to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geologisches Institut, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Bernhard-von-Cotta-Straße 2, 09599, Freiberg/Sachsen, Germany

    Martin Licht

  2. Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für Tierkunde, A.-B.-Meyer-Bau, Königsbrücker Landstraße 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany

    Martin Licht & Martin Paeckert

  3. Department of Historical Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Katharina Schmuecker

  4. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Thomas Huelsken

  5. vTI-Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Palmaille 9, 22767, Hamburg, Germany

    Reinhold Hanel

  6. Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Peter Bartsch

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  1. Martin Licht
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Licht, M., Schmuecker, K., Huelsken, T. et al. Contribution to the molecular phylogenetic analysis of extant holocephalan fishes (Holocephali, Chimaeriformes). Org Divers Evol 12, 421–432 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-011-0071-1

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