Resumen del producto

Family Sciaenidae consists of 24 genera in the Eastern Tropical Pacific; within these, genus Micropogonias is composed by three recognized species. These species exhibit meristic characters which mostly overlap, making their identification difficult. The aim of this study was to differentiate the genus Micropogonias distributed in the Mexican Pacific by morphological and genetic analysis. For this purpose, samples of M. altipinnis (n = 45), M. ectenes (n = 37), and M. megalops (n = 43) were collected, meristic characters were compared, and discriminant analysis with morphometric characteristics was performed. The shape of the otolith of the three species was analyzed by discriminant analysis comparing 15 variables. For genetic analysis, sequences of COI and 16S of mtDNA and 28S of nDNA were obtained, percentages of genetic divergence were calculated and neighborjoining trees were constructed. The meristic analysis indicated differences in the number of rays of the second dorsal fin between M. megalops and M. altipinnis. However, this feature overlapped between M. ectenes and M. megalops, showing a latitudinal gradient between the three species in this character and the number of gill rakers and length of the longest spine of the first dorsal fin. Discriminant analysis showed three morphological entities (p< 0.00); using the most significant features, an equation of classification to differentiate among the three species was generated. The discriminant analysis showed differences in the shape of the otolith (p< 0.00). The mean genetic divergences of COI among species ranged between 0-0.6%; these differences are smaller than those reported at the intraspecific level (1%). The mean genetic divergences of 16S and 28S did not show significant differences among sequences of the three species. The neighbor-joining tree showed a clade with 78% boostrap support; within this clade, M. altipinnis and M. megalops were located at the extremes of the clade, but M. ectenes shared haplotypes with both species.

Palabras clave: Pacifico Mexicano; Taxonomía; análisis genético

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