C.R.L. Amaral

A New Cryptic Species of South American Freshwater Pufferfish of the Genus Colomesus (Tetraodontidae), Based on Both Morphology and DNA Data

The Tetraodontidae are an Acantomorpha fish family with circumglobal distribution composed of 189 species grouped in 19 genera, occurring in seas, estuaries, and rivers between the tropical and temperate regions. Of these, the genus Colomesus is confined to South America, with what have been up to now considered only two species. C. asellus is spread over the entire Amazon, Tocantins-Araguaia drainages, and coastal environments from the Amazon mouth to Venezuela, and is the only freshwater puffers on that continent. C. psittacus is found in coastal marine and brackish water environments from Cuba to the northern coast of South America as far south as to Sergipe in Brazil. In the present contribution we used morphological data along with molecular systematics techniques to investigate the phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater pufferfishes of the genus Colomesus. The molecular part is based on a cytochrome C oxidase subunit I dataset constructed from both previously published and newly determined sequences, obtained from specimens collected from three distinct localities in South America. Our results from both molecular and morphological approaches enable us to identify and describe a new Colomesus species from the Tocantins River. We also discuss aspects of the historical biogeography and phylogeography of the South American freshwater pufferfishes, suggesting that it could be more recent than previously expected.

A new Chanidae (Ostariophysii: Gonorynchiformes) from the Cretaceous of Brazil with affinities to Laurasian gonorynchiforms from Spain.

Based on specimens originally referred to as “Dastilbe minor”, a nomem-nudum, we describe a new genus of Chanidae †Nanaichthys longipinnus nov. gen. and sp. which exhibits several diagnostic characters such as the absence of orbitosphenoid and basisphenoid, anteriorly displaced quadrate-mandibular articulation, laterally expanded supraneurals, an acute angle between the preopercular limbs, expansion at the angle between the preopercular limbs, and a curved maxillary articular process. Its occurrence and supposed relationship within the Chanidae reinforce the influence of the Mediterranean Tethys over the Gondwanan main rift system prior to the Aptian/Albian highstands.

Species identification in forensic samples using the SPInDel approach: A GHEP-ISFG inter-laboratory collaborative exercise

DNA is a powerful tool available for forensic investigations requiring identification of species. However, it is necessary to develop and validate methods able to produce results in degraded and or low quality DNA samples with the high standards obligatory in forensic research. Here, we describe a voluntary collaborative exercise to test the recently developed Species Identification by Insertions/Deletions (SPInDel) method. The SPInDel kit allows the identification of species by the generation of numeric profiles combining the lengths of six mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene regions amplified in a single reaction followed by capillary electrophoresis. The exercise was organized during 2014 by a Working Commission of the Spanish and Portuguese-Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (GHEP-ISFG), created in 2013. The 24 participating laboratories from 10 countries were asked to identify the species in 11 DNA samples from previous GHEP-ISFG proficiency tests using a SPInDel primer mix and control samples of the 10 target species. A computer software was also provided to the participants to assist the analyses of the results. All samples were correctly identified by 22 of the 24 laboratories, including samples with low amounts of DNA (hair shafts) and mixtures of saliva and blood. Correct species identifications were obtained in 238 of the 241 (98.8%) reported SPInDel profiles. Two laboratories were responsible for the three cases of misclassifications. The SPInDel was efficient in the identification of species in mixtures considering that only a single laboratory failed to detect a mixture in one sample. This result suggests that SPInDel is a valid method for mixture analyses without the need for DNA sequencing, with the advantage of identifying more than one species in a single reaction. The low frequency of wrong (5.0%) and missing (2.1%) alleles did not interfere with the correct species identification, which demonstrated the advantage of using a method based on the analysis of multiple loci. Overall, the SPInDel method was easily implemented by laboratories using different genotyping platforms, the interpretation of results was straightforward and the SPInDel software was used without any problems. The results of this collaborative exercise indicate that the SPInDel method can be applied successfully in forensic casework investigations.

The mitogenomic phylogeny of the Elasmobranchii (Chondrichthyes)

Abstract Here we present a mitogenomic perspective on the evolution of sharks and rays, being a first glance on the complete mitochondrial history of such an old and diversified group of vertebrates. The Elasmobranchii is a diverse subclass of Chondrichthyes, or cartilaginous fish, with about 1200 species of ocean- and freshwater-dwelling fishes spread all over the world’s seas, including some of the ocean’s largest fishes. The group dates back about 400 million years near the Devonian–Silurian boundary, being nowadays represented by several derivative lineages, mainly related to Mesozoic forms. Although considered of ecological, commercial and conservation importance, the phylogeny of this old group is poorly studied and still under debate. Here we apply a molecular systematic approach on 82 complete mitochondrial genomes to investigate the phylogeny of the Elasmobranchii. By using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian analyses, we found a clear separation within the shark clade between the Galeomorphii and the Squalomorphii, as well as sister taxa relationships between the Carcharhiniformes and the Lamniformes. Moreover, we found that Pristoidei clusters within the Rhinobatoidei, having been recovered as the sister taxon of the Rhinobatos genus in a clade which also includes the basal Zapteryx. Our results also reject the Hypnosqualea hypothesis, which proposes that the Batoidea should be placed within the Selachii.

The importance of fossil taxa in the knowledge of Neopterygian interrelationships

SUMMARY OF COMMUNICATIONS PALEONTOLOGICAL TOPICS AlexanderW.A.Kellner(Organizer) MODE OF LIFE OF THE MACROFOSSILS FROMTHE CABECAS FORMATION (DEVONIAN), PARNAIBABASIN, BRAZIL CleberF.daSilva 1 andDeusanaM.C.Machado 21 Estagiario do Laboratorio de Comunidades Paleozoicas, De-partamento de Ciencias Naturais, ECB, CCBS, UNI-RIO, Av.Pasteur 428, Urca, Rio de Janeiro – RJ. 2 Laboratorio de Comunidades Paleozoicas, Departamento deCiencias Naturais, ECB, CCBS, UNI-RIO, Av. Pasteur 428,Urca, Rio de Janeiro – RJ.Presented by DiogenesdeAlmeidaCampos The Cabecas Formation belongs to the CanindeGroup and corresponds to the Devonian depositional se-quence of the Parnaiba Basin. This unit is divided in twomembers, from base to top: Passagem and Oeiras. ThePassagem Member is of marine-deltaic origin and yieldedthe macrofossils studied here; the Oeiras Member is afos-siliferous and was deposited under fluvio-deltaic condi-tions. Fifteen taxa of the twenty-five known from thePassagem Member were found in the studied samples, asfollows: six brachiopods, six bivalves, one trilobite andone tentaculitid. Besides those, five additional ones arereported for the first time in this unit: two brachiopods(lingulid and Terebratulidae indet.), one inderminated bi-valve and two crinoids [Hexacrinites (?) sp. and Pen-tagonostipes (?) sp.]. These species fell under sevenmodes of life: (1) reclined epibenthic suspension feed-ers, represented by Pleurochonetes comstocki (Rathbun1874) and Mucrospirifer (?) pedroanus (Rathbun 1874);(2)attachedepibenthicsuspensionfeeders,representedbyPustulatia(?) curupira (Rathbun 1874), Mutationellinaeindet. D, Rhipidothyrididae sive Mutationellidae indet.B, Rhipidothyrididae sive Mutationellidae indet. D, Ter-ebratulidae indet., Hexacrinites (?) sp. and Pentagonos-tipes (?) sp.; (3) infaunal suspension feeders, representedby Grammysioidea lundi (Clarke 1899), Grammysioideasp. A and Tentaculites sp. (cf. T. eldregianus Rathbun1874); (4) semi-infaunal suspension feeders, representedby Spathella pimentana (Rathbun 1874); (5) infaunal de-positfeeders, representedbyCucullellatriquetra(Conrad1841), Nuculites (Nuculites) aff. N. (N) oblongatus (Con-rad 1841) and Palaeoneilo sp. A; (6) mobile epibenthicpredator, represented by Metacryphaeus meloi (Carvalhoet al. 1997); and (7) mobile epibenthic herbivore, repre-sented by Plectonotus derbyi (Clarke 1899). These habitsand their abundance agree with the previous suggestionthat the Cabecas Formation was deposited in a shallowmarine environment near the coast with moderated distur-bance from marine currents. — ( December 20, 2001 ).