Assessing species boundaries using multilocus species delimitation in a morphologically conserved group of neotropical freshwater fishes, the Poecilia sphenops species complex (Poeciliidae).

ABSTRACT: Accurately delimiting species is fundamentally important for understanding species diversity and distributions and devising effective strategies to conserve biodiversity. However, species delimitation is problematic in many taxa, including 'non-adaptive radiations' containing morphologically cryptic lineages. Fortunately, coalescent-based species delimitation methods hold promise for objectively estimating species limits in such radiations, using multilocus genetic data. Using coalescent-based approaches, we delimit species and infer evolutionary relationships in a morphologically conserved group of Central American freshwater fishes, the Poecilia sphenops species complex. Phylogenetic analyses of multiple genetic markers (sequences of two mitochondrial DNA genes and five nuclear loci) fro

SUBMITTER: Bagley JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4388586 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature