Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4299 No. 4: 31 Jul. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-07-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4299.4.4
Page range: 529–545
Abstract views: 236
PDF downloaded: 2

Channa pseudomarulius, a valid species of snakehead from the Western Ghats region of peninsular India (Teleostei: Channidae), with comments on Ophicephalus grandinosus, O. theophrasti and O. leucopunctatus

Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. The Fishmongers' Company, London, EC4R 9EL, United Kingdom
Center for Taxonomy of Aquatic Animals, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, School of Fisheries Resource Management and Harvest Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi 682 506, India
Center for Taxonomy of Aquatic Animals, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, School of Fisheries Resource Management and Harvest Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi 682 506, India
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune 411 008, India
Pisces CO1 DNA barcoding Integrative taxonomy Kerala Morphometry

Abstract

An investigation integrating morphological and molecular data to address the taxonomic status of Indian Channa marulius-like fishes reveals the presence of two species within Indian Rivers. As a consequence, Channa pseudomarulius is resurrected as a valid species and removed from the synonymy of C. marulius. Channa pseudomarulius appears to be restricted to the southern Western Ghats region of peninsular India and can be distinguished from the more widespread C. marulius by fewer lateral-line scales, fewer dorsal- and anal-fin rays, fewer vertebrae, and by a difference of about 8% in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene sequences. Channa marulius and C. pseudomarulius both possess low levels of genetic diversity across their range suggestive of small historical population sizes. This is especially interesting in the case of C. marulius, which is shown to have a large natural geographical range spanning at least the Indian subcontinent and parts of the Indo-Burman ranges in westernmost Myanmar. The synonymy of Channa marulius with Ophicephalus grandinosus, O. theophrasti, and O. leucopunctatus is confirmed based on examination of type specimens. A lectotype is designated for O. grandinosus.

 

References

  1. Adamson, E.A.S., Hurwood, D.A. & Mather, P.B. (2010) A reappraisal of the evolution of Asian snakehead fishes (Pisces, Channidae) using molecular data from multiple genes and fossil calibration. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 56, 707–717.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.03.027

    Anonymous (1829) Asiatic Intelligence - Madras - Government General Orders - Furloughs. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its dependencies, 28, 608.

    Bandelt, H., Forster, P. & Rohl, A. (1999) Median-joining networks for inferring intraspecific phylogenies. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 16, 37–48.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026036

    Benziger, A., Philip, S., Raghavan, R., Hamsa, P., Ali, A., Sukumaran, M., Tharian, J.C., Dahanukar, N., Baby, F., Peter, R., Devi, K.R., Radhakrishnan, K.V., Haniffa, M.A., Britz, R. & Antunes, A. (2011) Unravelling a 146 years old taxonomic puzzle: validation of Malabar Snakehead, species-status and its relevance for channid systematics and evolution. PLoS ONE, 6 (6), e21272.
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021272

    Bhat, A. (2003) Diversity and composition of freshwater fishes in river systems of Central Western Ghats, India. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 68, 25–38.
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026017119070

    Biju, S.D. & Bossuyt, F. (2003) New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles. Nature, 425, 711–714.
    https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02019

    Bleeker, P. (1851) Vijfde bijdrage tot de kennis der ichthyologische fauna van Borneo met beschrijving van eenige nieuwe soorten van zoetwatervisschen. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië, 2, 415–442.

    Britz, R. (2008) Channa ornatipinnis and C. pulchra, two new species of dwarf snakeheads from Myanmar (Teleostei: Channidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 18, 335–344.

    Britz, R., Ali, A. & Raghavan, R. (2012a) Pangio ammophila, a new species of eel-loach from Karnataka, southern India (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23, 45–50.

    Britz, R., Ali, A. & Philip, S. (2012b) Dario urops, a new species of badid fish from the Western Ghats, southern India (Teleostei: Percomorpha: Badidae). Zootaxa, 3348, 63–68.

    Britz, R., Ali, A. & Raghavan, R. (2012c) Pseudolaguvia lapillicola, a new species of catfish from peninsular India (Teleostei: Sisoridae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23, 289–295.

    Britz, R. & Ali, A. (2015) Dario huli, a new species of badid from Karnataka, southern India (Teleostei: Percomorpha: Badidae). Zootaxa, 3911, 139–144.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3911.1.9

    Conte-Grand, C., Britz, R., Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Pethiyagoda, R., Tan, H.H., Hadiaty, R.K., Yaakob, N.S. & Rüber, R. (2017) Barcoding snakeheads (Teleostei, Channidae) revisited: discovering greater species diversity and resolving perpetuated taxonomic confusions. PLoS ONE. [submitted]

    Courtenay, W.R. & Williams, J.D. (2004) Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): a biological synopsis and risk assessment. US Geological Survey Circular, Denver, CO, 1251 pp.

    Cuvier, G. & Valenciennes, A. (1831) Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome Septième. F. G. Levrault, Paris, xxix + 531 pp., 170–208 pls.

    Dahanukar, N., Raut, R. & Bhat, A. (2004) Distribution, endemism and threat status of freshwater fishes in the Western Ghats of India. Journal of Biogeography, 31, 123–136.
    https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0305-0270.2003.01016.x

    Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R, Ali, A., Abraham, R. & Shaji, C.P. (2011) The status and distribution of freshwater fishes of the Western Ghats. In: Molur, S., Smith, K.G., Daniel, B.A. & Darwall, W.R.T. (Eds.), The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India. IUCN, Cambridge, pp. 21–48.

    Dahanukar, N., Kumkar, P., Katwate, U. & Raghavan, R. (2015) Badis britzi, a new percomorph fish (Teleostei: Badidae) from the Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa, 3941, 429–436.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3941.3.9

    Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Ali, A. & Britz, R. (2016) Amblyceps accari, a new species of torrent catfish (Teleostei: Amblycipitidae) from the Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa, 4109 (2), 218–226.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4109.2.6

    Daniels, R.J.R. (2001) Endemic fishes of the Western Ghats and the Satpura hypothesis. Current Science, 18 (3), 240–244.

    Day, F. (1865) The fishes of Malabar. Quaritch, London, 293 pp.
    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.5549

    Dutta, S.K., Vasudevan, K., Chaitra, M.S., Shanker, K. & Aggarwal, R.K. (2004) Jurassic frogs and the evolution of amphibian endemism in the Western Ghats. Current Science, 86 (1), 211–216.

    Eschmeyer, W.N., Fricke, R. & van der Laan, R. (Eds.) (2016) Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References. Electronic version. Available from: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp (accessed 13 December 2016)

    Excoffier, L. & Lischer, H.E.L. (2010) Arlequin suite ver 3.5: A new series of programs to perform population genetics analyses under Linux and Windows. Molecular Ecology Resources, 10, 564–567.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2010.02847.x

    Ferraris, C.J. Jr. & Runge, K.E. (1999) Revision of the South Asian bagrid catfish genus Sperata, with the description of a new species from Myanmar. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 51, 397–424.

    Fu, Y.X. (1997) Statistical tests for neutrality of mutations against population growth, hitchhiking and background selection. Genetics, 147, 915–925.

    Günther, A. (1861) Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. Gobiidae, Discoboli, Pediculati, Blenniidae, Labyrinthici, Mugilidae, Notacanthi. Vol. 3. Taylor & Francis, London, xxv + 586 + x pp.

    Hamilton, F. (1822) An account of the fishes found in the River Ganges and its branches. Constable, Edinburgh, vii + 405 pp., 39 pls.

    Hebert, P.D.N., Ratnasingham, S. & deWaard, J.R. (2003) Barcoding animal life: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species. Proceeding of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 270, S96–S99.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0025

    Hora, S.L. (1931) “Piscium Bengalae Inferioris Delineationes”. Journal and Proceedings, Asiatic Society of Bengal, New Series, 27, 123–135.

    Hora, S.L. (1953) The Satpura hypothesis. Science Progress, 41 (162), 245–255.

    Jacquemont, V. (1835–1844) Voyage dans l'Inde, par Victor Jacquemont, pendant les années 1828 à 1832, publié sous les auspices de M. Guizot, ministre de l'instruction publique. Atlas. Second Tome. Didot, Paris, 207 pls.

    Kottelat, M. (2013) The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibiography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 27 (Supplement), 1–663.

    Lakra, W.S., Goswami, M., Gopalakrishnan, A., Singh, D.P., Singh, A. & Nagpure, N.S. (2010) Genetic relatedness among fish species of genus Channa using mitochondrial DNA genes. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 38, 1212–1219.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2010.12.012

    McClelland, J. (1839) Indian Cyprinidae. Asiatic Researches, 19, 217–471, pls. 37–61.

    McClelland, J. (1841) Indian Cyprinidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 8, 35–46, 108–121, 192–203.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03745484109442727

    Menon, A.G.K. (1999) Check list - Fresh water fishes of India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper, 175, 1–366.

    Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403 (6772), 853–858.
    https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501

    Rainboth, W. (1996) Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. Rome, FAO, 265 pp.

    RStudio Team (2015). RStudio: Integrated Development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA. Available from: http://www.rstudio.com/ (accessed 5 July 2017)

    Serrao, N. R., Steinke, D. & Hanner, R.H. (2014) Calibrating snakehead diversity with DNA barcodes: expanding taxonomic coverage to enable identification of potential and established invasive species. PLoS ONE, 9 (6), e99546.
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099546

    Sykes, W.H. (1839) On the fishes of the Deccan. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1838, 157–165.

    Sykes, W.H. (1841) On the fishes of the Dukhun. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 2, 349–376.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1839.tb00029.x

    Tajima, F. (1983) Evolutionary relationship of DNA sequences to finite populations. Genetics, 105, 437–460.

    Tamura K., Peterson, D., Peterson, N., Stecher, G., Nei, M. & Kumar, S. (2011) MEGA5: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis using Maximum Likelihood, Evolutionary Distance, and Maximum Parsimony Methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28, 2731–2739.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Van Boxclaer, I., Biju S.D., Loader, S.P. & Bossuyt, F. (2009) Toad radiation reveals into-India dispersal as a source of endemism in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 9, 131.
    https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-9-131

    Ward, R.D., Zemlak, T.S., Innes, B.H., Last, P.R. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2005) DNA barcoding Australia's fish species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 360, 1847–1857.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1716

    Wyllie, J. (1840) On the peculiar structure of the branchial appendages of the Indian Siluridae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 8, 34.

    Zhang, C.-G., Musikasinthorn, P. & Watanabe, K. (2002) Channa nox, a new channid fish lacking a pelvic fin from Guangxi, China. Ichthyological Research, 49, 140–146.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s102280200018