Re-evaluation of the discriminatory power of DNA barcoding on some specimens of African Cyprinidae (subfamilies Cyprininae and Danioninae)

Specimen identification in the absence of diagnostic morphological characters (e.g., larvae) can be problematic even for experts. The goal of the present study was to assess the performance of COI in discriminating specimens of the fish family Cyprinidae in Africa, and to explore whether COI-phyloge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ZooKeys 2018-03, Vol.746 (746), p.105-121
Main Authors: Adeoba, Mariam I, Kabongo, Ronny, der Bank, Herman Van, Yessoufou, Kowiyou
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Algorithms
Cenozoic
Comparative analysis
Cyprinidae
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA barcoding
Genera
Genetic aspects
Genetics
Identification and classification
Morphology
Phylogeny
Systematics
Zoology
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Summary:Specimen identification in the absence of diagnostic morphological characters (e.g., larvae) can be problematic even for experts. The goal of the present study was to assess the performance of COI in discriminating specimens of the fish family Cyprinidae in Africa, and to explore whether COI-phylogeny can be reliably used for phylogenetic comparative analysis. The main objective was to analyse a matrix of COI sequences for 315 specimens from 15 genera of African Cyprinidae using various distance-based identification methods alongside multiple tests of DNA barcode efficacy (barcode gap, species monophyly on NJ tree). Some morphological and biological characters were also mapped on a COI-phylogeny reconstructed using Maximum Parsimony. First, the results indicated the existence of barcode gaps, a discriminatory power of COI ranging from 79 % to 92 %, and that most nodes form well-supported monophyletic clades on an NJ tree. Second, it was found that some morphological and biological characters are clustered on the COI-phylogeny, and this indicates the reliability of these characters for taxonomic discrimination within the family. Put together, our results provide not only an additional support for the COI as a good barcode marker for the African Cyprinidae but it also indicate the utility of COI-based phylogenies for a wide spectrum of ecological questions related to African Cyprinidae.
ISSN:1313-2989
1313-2970
DOI:10.3897/zookeys.746.13502