Multiple recurrent evolution of trophic types in Northeastern Atlantic andMediterranean seabreams (Sparidae, Percoidei)

Seabreams are among the most valuable fish not only for small-scale and sem iindustrial fisheries but also for aquaculture throughout the Mediterranean . Nevertheless, their phylogenetic relationships are not at all clear. The current taxonomy is based solely on trophic morphology and rests on the ass umption that each trophic type evolved only once from a less specialized an cestral condition. We analyzed a 486-bp segment of the mitochondrial 16S rD NA of all 24 seabream species described for the northeastern Atlantic and t he Mediterranean to elucidate their generic and subfamily-level relationshi ps. Three major mitochondrial lineages, each comprising species of differen t feeding strategy and dentition, were found that do not agree with the pre sent taxonomic assignments. Most of the investigated genera were resolved p araphyletically, indicating that the structure and arrangement of oral teet h must have repeatedly evolved from a less specialized ancestral condition. Further, the genus Sparus was resolved as distantly related to the genus P agrus, in that it was assigned to a different major mitochondrial lineage. Oblada melanura was consistently placed within the Diplodus radiation as si ster group to Diplodus puntazzo. Our phylogenetic hypothesis thus suggests multiple independent origins of similar trophic specializations within the Sparidae and indicates that the currently recognized three or four subfamil ies need to be redefined.