Historical biogeography and evolutionary diversification of the Neotropical fish family Erythrinidae: a phylogenomic perspective inferred from Ultraconserved Elements (UCE's)

Abstract

Neotropical freshwater fishes exhibit high diversity, and their evolutionary diversification is closely related to the geomorphological history of the heterogeneous watersheds in which they inhabit. Erythrinidae is a widely distributed family of Neotropical freshwater fishes, occurring in lentic and lotic habitats in most drainages of Central and South America, from Costa Rica to Argentina. Three genera are currently recognized in the family: Erythrinus, Hoplerythrinus, and Hoplias, which includes species with wide distribution and represents an interesting group for evolutionary studies. Hoplias is distributed across most hydrological basins in both trans- and cis-Andean region and currently consists of 14 valid species, whereas Erythrinus and Hoplerythrinus have only cis-Andean distribution, presenting an apparent lower diversity, with two and three valid species respectively. Diversity and geographical distribution patterns, as well as ecological aspects of Erythrinidae, generate interesting questions concerning to evolutionary diversification of its lineages, as: What factors promoted or restricted diversification within Erythrinidae? How is the diversity pattern within each genus related to the process of lineage dispersions? How is the evolutionary diversification related to the current trans- and cis-Andean distribution of Hoplias and to the restricted cis-Andean distribution of Erythrinus and Hoplerythrinus?. To date, no study has examined the evolutionary history of Erythrinidae using dense geographic and taxonomic sampling, as well as genomic data. Here, we propose examining the evolutionary history of Erythrinidae using phylogenomic data from high-throughput sequencing of ultraconserved elements (UCEs). Specifically, we pretend to investigate and estimate the tempo and modes of its diversification, reconstruct ancestral geographic distributions and correlate biogeographic patterns with geomorphological events and landscape evolution in the Neotropical region.