Diversidade genética de Andinoacara latifrons (Steindachner, 1878) como estratégia de conservação em diferentes bacias hidrográficas colombianas

Abstract

Neotropical cichlids represent a monophyletic clade, including species from Central America, the Antilles, and South America. Andinoacara, belonging to the Cichlasomatini tribe, was recently recognized as a new genus occurring in the Andean region of northern South America. The endemic species, A. latifrons, represents a type specie that occurs in Colombia, due to the scarce information in terms of genetics and phylogeography, the objective of this study is to investigate the genetic diversity of A. latifrons after biogeographic events in North of South America. The mitochondrial genes Cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) and Cytochrome b (Cytb), and the nuclear rag1 gene were sequenced, and sequences from the BOLD and GenBank databases were used. The GMYC, PTP and ABGD model were used to delimit OTUs within the Cichasomatini tribe, and to identify the individuals of A. latifrons species from the different basins as belonging to this clade. A haplotype network using the TCS method and a phylogenetic tree using Mr. Bayes was constructed to establish the individuals’ relationships from the geographic perspective. A possible new OTU (Lomas Aisladas, Caribbean) was found in species delimitation analysis (GMYC, PTP, ABGD) and the concatenated tree (COI + Cytb + rag1 = 2778 bp) reinforces this idea by showing this group as a separate clade. The geographical complexity of Colombia allowed for a wide genetic diversity, which follows a historical line parallel to the uplift of the Andes, also confirmed by the analysis of the DEC model. These results reinforce the biogeographic structure of the Andean region, elucidating historical vicariance events of this species. Ancient connections between the Magdalena and Maracaibo basin and possible dispersal events from Maracaibo to the coastal rivers of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta can be considered as possible explanations of the A. latifrons distribution. The possible explanation for the relationship between the Caribbean basin and the Cauca-Magdalena basin may be due to an old contact zone or a hybridization zone prior to the elevation of the Andes Mountains. The data presented in this study are strongly related to areas of great importance that can be consistently treated as conservation units.