Systematics of Damselfishes
The family Pomacentridae is a species-rich group of primarily marine fishes. The phylogenetic relationships of the damselfishes are examined herein using sequence data from five mitochondrial (12S, 16S, ATP synthase subunits 8/6, cytochrome b, and cytochrome c oxidase I) and three nuclear (histone H3, recombination activating gene 1 exon 3, and Tmo-4C4) loci. A combined data matrix of 6,865 base pairs was compiled for 462 taxa, representing 322 damselfish species, and used to reconstruct the phylogeny of pomacentrids via maximum likelihood. The resulting topology supports the monophyly of the family and some groups within it, corroborating some conclusions drawn by recent studies but contradicting others. We find that the family is composed of four major lineages, recognized herein as the subfamilies Chrominae, Glyphisodontinae, Microspathodontinae, and Pomacentrinae. The subfamily Microspathodontinae is sister to a clade of the other three subfamilies, and the subfamily Glyphisodontinae is sister to a clade of Chrominae and Pomacentrinae. The monotypic subfamily Lepidozyginae is recovered within Microspathodontinae and placed in the synonymy of Microspathodontinae. Species of Plectroglyphidodon and Stegastes are reassigned to maintain the monophyly of both genera. In Chrominae, the generic limits of Azurina and Chromis are revised to reflect monophyletic groups. The genus-group name Pycnochromis is resurrected to accommodate a group of former Chromis sister to Dascyllus. In Pomacentrinae, the genus Premnas is recovered within Amphiprion and placed in the synonymy of Amphiprion. The genus Chrysiptera is broadly polyphyletic within Pomacentrinae. The genus Amblypomacentrus is revised to accommodate some species formerly classified as Chrysiptera.
The phylogenetic relationships of damselfishes (Teleostei: Pomacentridae): (A) outgroup taxa; (B) subfamilies Microspathodontinae and Glyphisodontinae; (C) subfamily Chrominae; (D) subfamily Pomacentrinae (part I); (E) subfamily Pomacentrinae (part II). The phylogeny is based on the maximum-likelihood topology with the best log likelihood score (ln L = –45,4518.728) recovered from ten independent maximum-likelihood analyses of a data matrix composed of 462 taxa and 6,865 nucleotides. Bootstrap values from 1,000 ultrafast replicates are displayed for each node (values below 50% are not reported). Illustrations (not to scale) represent the following species, from top: (A) Polymixia japonica, Beryx splendens, Periophthalmus magnuspinnatus, Kurtus gulliveri, Thunnus orientalis, Diplectrum formosum, Notothenia coriiceps, Perca flavescens, Sebastes elongatus, Eugerres plumieri, Doratonotus megalepis, Halichoeres chrysus, Haletta semifasciata, Cirrhilabrus punctatus, Epibulus insidiator, Dichistius multifasciatus, Lepomis macrochirus, Morone chrysops, Holacanthus ciliaris, Lutjanus campechanus, Zanclus cornutus, Mola mola, Takifugu rubripes, Caranx hippos, Ctenopoma acutirostre, Trichopodus trichopterus, Mugil cephalus, Melanotaenia parkinsoni, Oryzias latipes, Kryptolebias marmoratus, Fundulus heteroclitus, Poecilia reticulata, Paretroplus maculatus, Crenicichla lepidota, Andinoacara rivulatus, Neolamprologus brichardi, Astatotilapia burtoni, Plesiops coeruleolineatus, Gramma loreto, Opistognathus aurifrons, Acyrtops beryllinus, Meiacanthus grammistes, Salarias fasciatus, Malacoctenus triangulatus, Micrometrus minimus, Embiotoca jacksoni; (B) Mecaenichthys immaculatus, Parma polylepis, Microspathodon chrysurus, Hypsypops rubicundus, Plectroglyphidodon dickii, P. imparipennis, P. leucozonus, P. fasciolatus, P. altus, P. gascoynei, Lepidozygus tapeinosoma, Stegastes lacrymatus, S. nigricans, S. beebei, S. diencaeus, S. xanthurus, S. otophorus, S. rectifraenum, S. imbricatus, Abudefduf declivifrons, A. sordidus, A. bengalensis, A. natalensis, A. abdominalis, A. saxatilis; (C) Azurina lepidolepis, A. cyanea, A. hirundo, A. multilineata, Dascyllus aruanus, D. albisella, D. trimaculatus, Pycnochromis nigrurus, P. vanderbilti, P. alleni, P. ovatiformis, P. hanui, P. atripes, P. fieldi, P. margaritifer, Chromis viridis, C. ternatensis, C. fumea, C. notata, C. hypsilepis, C. okamurai, C. chrysura, C. randalli, C. opercularis, C. weberi, C. cinerascens, C. analis, C. pembae, C. chromis, C. alpha, C. abyssus, C. alta, C. insolata; (D) “Chrysiptera” rapanui, “C.” glauca, “C.” biocellata, “C.” brownriggii, Dischistodus chrysopoecilus, D. prosopotaenia, Pomachromis richardsoni, Cheiloprion labiatus, Chrysiptera cyanea, C. rex, C. traceyi, C. oxycephala, Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon, Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus, N. nigroris, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, Altrichthys azurelineatus, Amblyglyphidodon aureus, A. curacao, A. orbicularis, Amphiprion ocellaris, A. latezonatus, A. clarkii, A. perideraion, A. chrysopterus, A. frenatus, A. ephippium, A. chrysogaster, A. bicinctus, A. polymnus; (E) Amblypomacentrus tricinctus, A. breviceps, Pristotis obtusirostris, Teixeirichthys jordani, Neopomacentrus bankieri, N. filamentosus, N. xanthurus, N. miryae, N. metallicus, N. azysron, Pomacentrus pavo, P. caeruleus, P. auriventris, P. coelestis, P. aquilus, P. trilineatus, P. chrysurus, P. vaiuli, P. bankanensis, P. amboinensis, P. moluccensis, P. tripunctatus, P. taeniometopon, P. callainus, P. brachialis, P. nagasakiensis, P. stigma, P. nigromanus, P. philippinus, P. imitator. See Data Accessibility for tree file.
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