Molecular evidence on the evolutionary and biogeographical patterns of European cyprinids

The phylogenetic relationships of 106 European cyprinid taxa were determine d based on the complete nucleotide sequence (1140 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The molecular phylogeny was used (1) to revise the curre nt systematics of European cyprinids, (2) to establish the phylogenetic uti lity of traditional morphological characters that are widely used in Cyprin idae systematics, and (3) to discuss alternative hypotheses on the biogeogr aphy of the family in Europe. The age of the major lineages within European cyprinids was tentatively estimated with a molecular clock and showed full agreement with the fossil record of the group. Moreover, the results provi ded unambiguous evidence for a close phylogenetic affinity of some Caucasia n and Greek endemic cyprinid taxa (e.g., B. capito and B. brachycephalus an d Leuciscus keadicus, Barbus graecus, and B. albanicus, respectively) to Ib erian and North African, but not Central European, cyprinids. The existence of such unexpected phylogenetic relationships refutes the classical hypoth esis on the biogeography of European cyprinids, which assumes a dispersal o f the cyprinid fauna from central Europe to southern Europe and northern Af rica during the Miocene (and, hence, predicts a close phylogenetic relation ship of all Caucasian, Greek, Iberian, and North African cyprinids to centr al European taxa). Instead, the existence of a Mediterranean realm independ ent of the central European route seems plausible based on the molecular ev idence. It is likely that the new biogeographical scenario proposed here mi ght apply to other primary freshwater European animals with low dispersal a bilities, including fish, amphibians, and invertebrates.