Divergence of the freshwater sleeper, Neodontobutis hainanensis (Chen, 1985) (Teleostei, Odontobutidae), in the Pearl River basin and on Hainan Island of southern China

Abstract

Study of divergence of freshwater fish populations between island and adjacent mainland areas can shed light on the phylogeographical relationships of these regions. Neodontobutis hainanensis is a freshwater fish species restricted to Hainan Island and in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in the southern mainland China. We examine the phylogenetic relationship and population structure of N. hainanensis based on 3,176 nuclear loci using a gene-capture method. STRUCTURE analysis and principal coordinate analyses (PCA) indicate that populations from Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan are each distinct, except that some individuals of the Guangdong population share minor genetic components with individuals of the Guangxi population. In the concatenated gene tree, the Hainan population is grouped with the Guangdong population, but the coalescent tree groups the Hainan population as the sister to the Guangxi population. Finally, coalescent simulations confirmed the divergence pattern supported by the coalescent tree and revealed a one-way introgression from the Guangxi population to the Guangdong population, which can explain the discordant results supported by the concatenated and coalescent phylogenetic analyses. Due to recent decline of N. hainanensis populations and the genetic patterns in this species, as revealed in this study, the populations in the three areas should be treated as separate conservation units.