Abstract
The use of both morphological and molecular methods has allowed a fast and reliable species assignment of a fish that local fishermen with over thirty years of experience had never seen before. The identified species, Schedophilus medusophagus, is rare along Italian coasts, and this is the first documented record in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea for over 35 years. Its abundance should be evaluated on a continuous basis, as it might reflect biological consequences of environmental and climatic change. The mitochondrial sequences obtained in this study constitute a useful molecular tag for future research and may contribute to the phylogenetic debate on the status of the genus Schedophilus, of which S. medusophagus is the type species. Based on the existing literature, these preliminary molecular data support the hypothesis that the genus is not monophyletic.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Strauss R.E., Bond C.E., Taxonomic methods: morphology, In: Schreck C.B., Moyle P.B., (Eds.), Methods for fish biology, American Fisheries Society, Maryland, 1990
Kon T., Yoshino T., Mukai T., Nishida M., DNA sequences identify numerous cryptic species of vertebrate: a lesson from the gobioid fish Schindleria, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 2007, 44, 53–62
Teletchea F., Molecular identification methods of fish species: reassessment and possible applications, Rev. Fish Biol. Fisher., 2009, 19, 265–293
Hebert P.D.N., Cywinska A., Ball S.L., deWaard R., Biological identifications through DNA barcodes, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 2003, 270, 313–321
Tautz D., Arctander P., Minelli A., Thomas R.H., Vogler A.P., A plea for DNA taxonomy, Trends Ecol. Evol., 2003, 18, 70–74
Teletchea F., After 7 years and 1000 citations: comparative assessment of the DNA barcoding and the DNA taxonomy proposals for taxonomists and non-taxonomists, Mitochondr. DNA, 2010, 21, 206–226
Agnèse J.F., Teugels G.G., Galbusera P., Guyomard R., Volckaert F., Morphometric and genetic characterization of sympatric populations of Clarias gariepinus and C. anguillaris from Senegal, J. Fish Biol., 1997, 50, 1143–1157
Tseng M.C., Jean C.T., Tsai W.L., Chen N.C., Distinguishing between two sympatric Acanthopagrus species from Dapeng Bay, Taiwan, using morphometric and genetic characters, J. Fish Biol., 2009, 74, 357–376
Aljanabi S.M., Martinez I., Universal and rapid saltextraction of high quality genomic DNA for PCRbased techniques, Nucl. Acids Res., 1997, 25, 4692–4693
Miya M., Nishida M., Use of mitogenomic information in teleostean molecular phylogenetics: a tree-based exploration under the maximumparsimony optimality criterion, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 2000, 17, 437–455
Milana V., Sola L., Congiu L., Rossi A.R., Mitochondrial DNA in Atherina (Teleostei, Atheriniformes): differential distribution of an intergenic spacer in lagoon and marine forms of Atherina boyeri, J. Fish Biol., 2008, 73, 1216–1227
Cantatore P., Roberti M., Pesole G., Ludovico A., Micella F., Gadaleta M.N., et al., Evolutionary analysis of the cytochrome b sequences in some Perciformes: evidence for a slower rate of evolution than in mammals, J. Mol. Evol., 1994, 39, 589–597
Ward R.D., Zemlak T.S., Innes B.H., Last P.R., Hebert P.D.N., DNA barcoding Australia’s fish species, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2005, 360, 1847–1857
Astolfi L., Dupanloup L., Rossi R., Bisol P.M., Faure E., Congiu L., Mitochondrial variability of sand smelt Atherina boyeri populations from north Mediterranean coastal lagoons, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 2005, 297, 233–243
Thompson J.D., Gibson T.J., Plewniak F., Jeanmougin F., Higgins D.G., The CLUSTAL X windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools, Nucl. Acids Res., 1997, 25, 4876–4882
Tortonese E., Fauna d’Italia: Pesci Ossei (Fauna of Italy: Osteichthyes), part 2, Calderini, Bologna, 1975, (in Italian)
Haedrich R.L., Centrolophidae, In: Whitehead P.J.P., Bauchot M.L., Hureau J.C., Nielsen J., Tortonese E., (Eds.), Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, vol. 3, UNESCO, Paris, 1986
Bauchot M.L., Centrolophidae, In: Fischer W., Bauchot M.L., Schneider M., (Eds.), Fiches FAO d’identification des espèces pour les besoins de la pêche, Révision 1, Méditerranée et mer Noire, Zone de Pêche 37 (FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Mediterranean and Black Sea, Fishing Area 37), FAO, Rome, 1987, (in French)
Haedrich R.L., Centrolophidae. Medusafishes (ruffs, barrelfish), In: Carpenter K.E., (Ed.), The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic, vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals, FAO, Rome, 2002
Bini G., Centrolophidae, In: Atlante dei Pesci delle coste Italiane (Nearshore Fish Atlas of Italy), vol. 6: Osteitti (Osteichthyes), Mondo Sommerso, Milano, 1968 (in Italian)
Dulčić J., First record of the cornish blackfish Schedophilus medusophagus (Pisces: Centrolophidae) larvae from the Adriatic Sea, J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK, 1998, 78, 1035–1038
Ninni E., Catalogo dei pesci del Mare Adriatico (Checklist of fishes of the Adriatic Sea), Bertotti, Venezia, 1912, (in Italian)
Onofri I., The rare saw-cheeked fish (Schedophihis medusophagus Cocco, 1839) (Pisces: Centrolophidae) in the central Adriatic, Malice Srpske, 1986, 70, 135–141
Corsini-Foka M., Frantzis A., First documented record of imperial blackfish, Schedophilus ovalis (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Centrolophidae), in the Aegean Greek waters, Acta Ichthyol. Piscat., 2009, 39, 47–49
Bolch C.J.S., Ward R.D., Last P.R., Biochemical systematics of the marine fish family Centrolophidae (Teleostei: Stromateoidei) from australian waters, Aust. J. Mar. Fresh. Res., 1994, 45, 1157–1172
Ahlstrom E.H., Butler J.L., Sumida B.Y., Pelagic stromateoid fishes (Pisces, Perciformes) of the eastern Pacific: kinds, distributions and early life histories and observations on five of these from the north west Atlantic, Bull. Mar. Sci., 1976, 26, 285–402
McDowall R.M., The centrolophid genus Tubbia (Pisces: Stromateoidei), Copeia, 1979, 1979, 733–738
McDowall R.M., The centrolophid fishes of New Zealand (Pisces: Stromateoidei), J. Roy. Soc. New Zeal., 1982, 12, 103–142
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Milana, V., Fusari, A., Rossi, A.R. et al. Molecular and morphological identification of an uncommon centrolophid fish. cent.eur.j.biol. 6, 440–445 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-011-0016-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-011-0016-x