Phylogenetic Analyses of Pristipomoides (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) Based on New Mitochondrial Genomes

Abstract

The species in the genus Pristipomoides are commercial fishes with high economic value. There are few studies on the phylogenetic relationship within the genus Pristipomoides at present. mtDNA has the characteristics of maternal inheritance, close gene arrangement, and a high evolutionary rate, which is an excellent tool to study the phylogeny of the species. In this study, the mitochondrial genomes of five species in the genus Pristipomoides were sequenced using the Sanger sequencing method and analyzed for their features. The mitochondrial genome length of the five species ranged from 16,499 to 16,530 bp. The start codon was ATG\GTG, and the stop codon was TAA\TAG\T--\AGG. The ratio of Ka and Ks for protein-coding genes ranged from 0 to 0.117, suggesting a strong purifying selection acting on the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs). The gene with the highest diversity was nd2 (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2), suggesting the highest evolutionary rate. Phylogenetic analysis of five Pristipomoides species with other species of Lutjanidae was conducted using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). The results showed that P. zonatus and P. auricilla were closely related to P. argyrogrammicus and P. sieboldii, respectively, and P. filamentosus and P. multidens clustered together. Furthermore, A. rutilans is deeply nested within the Pristipomoides genus, indicating a close phylogenetic relationship with the species in the Pristipomoides genus. Based on this evidence, we suggest that A. rutilans should be classified under the Pristipomoides genus and recommend a revision in its taxonomy. The molecular data and phylogenetic analysis provided in this study would be helpful for the species identification and phylogenetic studies of the family Lutjanidae.