Pa. Hastings, PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CORALLIOZETUS CLADE OF CHAENOPSID BLENNIES, WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS (TELEOSTEI, BLENNIOIDEI), Bulletin of marine science, 61(3), 1997, pp. 743-761
A parsimony analysis of 53 morphological characters was used to hypoth
esize the relationships of the species of the chaenopsid genera Corall
iozetus and Protemblemaria. A single most parsimonious topology was ob
tained (Fig. 1), with the following implications. Species currently al
located to these genera, together with the genus Emblemariopsis, form
a monophyletic group (termed the Coralliozetus clade) whose sister gro
up is the Chaenopsis clade (sensu Hastings and Springer, 1994). The ge
nus Coralliozetus is monophyletic and distinctive, with the six includ
ed species sharing more than twenty apomorphies. As currently construe
d, the genus Protemblemaria is not monophyletic. Protemblemaria lucasa
na Stephens, 1963 is either the sister group of Emblemariopsis (in the
shortest topology), or of Coralliozetus plus the other two species of
Protemblemaria (in a topology one step longer than the most parsimoni
ous). A new generic name (Cirriemblemaria) is provided for this specie
s to achieve a monophyletic classification. A synapomorphy for the gen
us Emblemariopsis is proposed and Coralliozetus tayrona Acero, 1987 is
included in Emblemariopsis. The Coralliozetus clade includes two tran
sisthmian species pairs.