Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4701 No. 5: 2 Dec. 2019
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2019-12-02
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4701.5.10
Page range: 497–500
Abstract views: 98
PDF downloaded: 5

Poor taxonomic sampling undermines nomenclatural stability: A reply to Roxo et al. (2019)

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil.
Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil.
Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Porto Nacional, TO, Brazil.
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil. Instituto Federal do Paraná, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Universidade Federal do Pará, Altamira, PA, Brazil.
General

Abstract

A recent study based on genomic data by Roxo et al. (2019) provided a phylogeny of the Loricariidae, the largest catfish family and second largest Neotropical fish family with approximately 1,000 species. The study represents a valuable and innovative contribution for understanding higher-level relationships within the family. The phylogenetic tree inferred by Roxo et al. (2019) thoroughly corroborates the monophyly and relationships of most currently accepted subfamilies of Loricariidae, based on a fair taxon sampling (nearly 14% of the species in the family) representing most genera of each but one of the subfamilies, the Lithogeninae, the sister-group of the remaining members of the family (Pereira & Reis, 2017; Reis et al., 2017). In addition to a hypothesis of relationships, Roxo et al. (2019) also proposed a series of lower-level taxonomic changes, which are deemed premature considering that the taxonomic sampling of the study targeted higher-level clades, and go against one of the pillars of biological classification: nomenclatural stability (e.g., Heterick & Majer, 2018; Beninger & Backeljau, 2019). Here we (1) discuss implications of inadequate taxonomic sampling as a basis for changes in classification of species; (2) explain why the taxonomic sampling design of Roxo et al. (2019) is inadequate for the proposed nomenclatural changes; and (3) advocate that changes to classifications must be grounded on phylogenies with dense sampling of taxa at the relevant level.

 

References

  1. Beninger, P.G. & Backeljau, T. (2019) Understanding taxonomic and nomenclatural instability – a case study of the Manila clam. Aquaculture, 504, 375–379.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.02.016

    Calegari, B.B., Gill Morlis, W. & Reis, R.E. (2017) A new species of Otothyropsis (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the upper Río Paraná basin, Paraguay, with a discussion of the limits between Otothyropsis and Hisonotus. Zootaxa, 4244 (2), 231–245.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4244.2.5

    Cramer, C.A., Bonatto, S.L. & Reis, R.E. (2011) Molecular phylogeny of the Neoplecostominae and Hypoptopomatinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) using multiple genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 59, 43–52.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.01.002

    Farris, J.S. (1976) Phylogenetic classification of fossils with recent species. Systematic Zoology, 25, 271–282.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/2412495

    Heath, T.A., Hedtke, S.M. & Hillis, D.M. (2008) Taxon sampling and the accuracy of phylogenetic analyses. Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 46, 239–257.

    Heterick, B. & Majer, J. (2018) The taxonomic stability imperative. Australian Zoologist, 39, 627–632.

    https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2017.031

    Hillis, D.M. (1998) Taxonomic sampling, phylogenetic accuracy, and investigator bias. Systematic Biology, 47, 3–8.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/106351598260987

    ICZN [International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature] (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 4th Edition. Published by the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, Natural History Museum, London, 306 pp.

    Martins, F.O., Britski, H.A. & Langeani, F. (2014) Systematics of Pseudotothyris (Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 170, 822–874.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj12107

    Pereira, E.H.L. & Reis, R.E. (2017) Morphology-based phylogeny of the suckermouth armored catfishes, with emphasis on the Neoplecostominae (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Zootaxa, 4264 (1), 1–104.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4264.1.1

    Pollock, D.D., Zwickl, D.J., Mcguire, J.A. & Hillis, D.M. (2002) Increased taxon sampling is advantageous for phylogenetic inference. Systematic Biology, 51, 664–671.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150290102357

    Reddy, S., Kimball, R.T., Pandey, A., Hosner, P.A., Braun, M.J., Hackett, S.J., Han, K.-I., Harshman, J., Huddleston, C.J., Kingston, S. Marks, B.D., Miglia, K.J., Moore, W.S., Sheldon, F.H., Witt, C.C., Yuri, T. & Braun, E.L. (2017) Why do phylogenomic data sets yield conflicting trees? Data type influences the avian Tree of Life more than taxon sampling. Systematic Biology, 66, 857–879.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syx041

    Reis, R.E. (2017) Unexpectedly high diversity in a small basin: A taxonomic revision of Eurycheilichthys (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), with descriptions of seven new species. Neotropical Ichthyology, 15, e160068.

    https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-20160068

    Reis, R.E., Calegari, B.B., Carvalho, T.P., Cramer, C.A., Delapieve, M.L.S., Lehmann A.,P. & Pereira, E.H.L. (2017) A phylogeny of the armored catfishes, with emphasis on the Neoplecostominae-Hypoptopomatinae clade (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): Integrating phenotypical and molecular data. II International Symposium on Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes, Londrina, Brazil, 2017. [unkown pagination]

    Reis, R.E. & Schaefer, S.A. (1998) New cascudinhos from southern Brazil: systematics, endemism, and relationships (Siluriformes, Loricariidae, Hypoptopomatinae). American Museum Novitates, 3254, 1–25.

    Ribeiro, A.C., Carvalho, M. & Melo, A.L.A. (2005) Description and relationships of Otothyropsis marapoama, a new genus and species of hypoptopomatine catfish (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from rio Tietê basin, southeastern Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, 3, 489–498.

    https://doi.org/10.1590/S1679-62252005000400006

    Rossini, B.C., Oliveira, C.A.M., Melo, F.A.G., Bertaco, V.A., Astarloa, J.M.D., Rosso, J.J., Fauto, F. & Oliveira, C. (2016) Highlighting Astyanax species diversity through DNA barcoding. Plos One, 11, e0167203.

    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167203

    Roxo, F.F., Albert, J. S., Silva, G.S.C., Zawadzki, C.H., Foresti, F. & Oliveira, C. (2014) Molecular phylogeny and biogeographic history of the armored neotropical catfish subfamilies Hypoptopomatinae, Neoplecostominae and Otothyrinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). PlosOne, 9, e105564.

    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105564

    Roxo, F.F., Ochoa, L.E., Sabaj, M.H., Lujan, N.K., Covain, R., Silva, G.S.C., Melo, B. F., Albert, J. S., Chang, J., Foresti, F., Alfaro, M.E. & Oliveira, C. (2019) Phylogenomic reappraisal of the Neotropical catfish family Loricariidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using ultraconserved elements. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 135, 148–165.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.02.017

    Roxo, F.F., Silva, G.S.C., Ochoa, L.E. & Zawadzki, C.H. (2017) Description of a new species of Gymnotocinclus from the rio Tocantins basin with phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Zootaxa, 4268 (3), 337–359.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4268.3.2

    Smith, W.L. & Craig, M.T. (2007) Casting the Percomorph net widely: The importance of broad taxonomic sampling in the search for the placement of serranid and percid fishes. Copeia, 2007, 35–55.

    https://doi.org/10.1643/0045-8511(2007)7[35:CTPNWT]2.0.CO;2

    Swofford, D.L., Olsen, J.L., Waddell, P.J. & Hillis, D.M. (1996) Phylogenetic inference. In: Hillis, D.M., Moritz, C. & Mable, B.K. (Eds.), Molecular systematics. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, pp. 407–514.

    Wiley, E.O. (1979) An annotated Linnean hierarchy, with comments on natural taxa and competing systems. Systematic Zoology, 28, 308–337.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/2412585

    Zwickl, D.J. & Hillis, D.M. (2002) Increased taxon sampling greatly reduces phylogenetic error. Systematic Biology, 51, 588–598.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150290102339