L.F. Carvalho-Costa, N.M. Piorski, S.C. Willis, P.M. Galetti and G. Ortí. 2011. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.02.005.
Abstract
Pseudoplatystoma is a comercially important genus of Neotropical migratory catfishes widely distributed in all major river basins of South America. Historically, only three species were recognized, but a recent revision proposed eight putative morphospecies for the genus. A molecular study based on mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) provided support for recognition of only some of the species and raised questions about species boundaries in this group. We present a more encompassing analysis based on mtDNA (cytochrome b, 818 bp) and nuclear DNA-based phylogenies (Rag1 intron 1, 664bp and S7 intron 1, 635 bp) for a more extensive sampling (279 individuals from 42 localities) of all putative species in all major river basins. Patterns generated by individual gene genealogies and a multispecies coalescent analysis provided evidence to suggest recognition of only 4 distinct species in this genus: P. magdaleniatum, P. corruscans, P. tigrimun (sensu lato) and P. fasciatum (sensu lato). The species phylogeny places P. magdaleniatum as the sister group to all the other species in the genus, but the relationships among P. fasciatum s.l, P. tigrimum s.l., and P. corruscans could not be resolved with confidence.
