Abstract

Molecular Phylogenetic Relationships among Mediterranean Mugilidae Species

Author(s): Hager Blel, Khaled Said and Jean-Dominique Durand

In order to explore phylogenetic relationships among six Mediterranean species of theMugilidae family namely,Mugil cephalus, Chelon labrosus, Liza aurata, Liza ramada, Liza saliens and Oedalechilus labeo, polymorphismsequence ofmitochondrial (16S rRNA, COI, CytB and 12S rRNA) and nuclear (5S DNA and Rhodopsin) gene were analysed. Phylogenetic trees built are in agreement with previous studies but the overall data set provide the finest picture of phylogenetic relationships among these species. Mugil appear as the most derivative genus among studied genera (Liza, Chelon, Oedalechilus) which is in agreement with morphometric specificity of Mugil. In contrast, our data disagree with a close relationship of Oedalechilus with Chelon. Last, our results using as well the mitochondrial as the nuclear markers corroborate previous studies that question the validity of Chelon labrosus and confirm that this species belong to the Liza genus.