Contribution to the phylogeny of pangasiid catfishes based on allozymes and mitochondrial DNA

Phylogenetic inferences based on molecular data provide support for the rec ognition of some Pangasius subgenera and, or species groups as distinct gen era. It is suggested that Pangasiidae and Schilbeidae have diverged from a common ancestor probably since late Miocene. Moreover, the data provide evi dence for the existence of two distinct episodes of speciation in Pangasiid ae. The most ancient occurred in the middle Miocene and concerned emergence of the different genera, while the second referred to an intense speciatio n event in the genus Pangasius, probably between the early Miocene and the late Pliocene. Finally, this study revealed the existence of two new specie s of Pangasius. (C) 2000 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.