Gene
Volume 427, Issues 1-2, 31 December 2008, Pages 7-18
Evolution of Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan populations of the gobiid
species, Pterogobius elapoides and
Pterogobius zonoleucus, based on molecular and morphological analyses
Akihitoa, Akishinonomiya Fumihitob, c, Yuji Ikedad, Masahiro Aizawad,
Takashi Makinoe, 1, Yumi
Umeharae, Yoshiaki Kaif, Yuriko Nishimotob, g, Masami Hasegawab, e, h,
Tetsuji Nakaboi and Takashi
Gojoborib, e,
aThe Imperial Residence, 1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0001, Japan
bThe Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Shonan Village,
Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193,
Japan
cThe University Museum, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
dImperial Household Agency, 1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8111, Japan
eCenter for Information Biology and DDBJ, National Institute of Genetics,
Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540,
Japan
fMaizuru Fisheries Research Station, Field Science Education and Research
Center, Kyoto University, Maizuru
625-0086, Japan
gThe Research Institute of Evolutionary Biology, 2-4-28 Kamiyoga, Setagaya-
ku, Tokyo, 158-0098, Japan
hThe Institute of Statistical Mathematics, 4-6-7 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-8569, Japan
iThe Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
Received 2 July 2008;
revised 22 September 2008;
accepted 22 September 2008.
Available online 2 October 2008.
Abstract
Pterogobius elapoides and Pterogobius zonoleucus are common free-swimming
gobies found in rocky and
weedy shores along the temperate coast of Japan. We collected individuals of
both species from 23
locations around the coast of Japan and compared the mitochondrial
nucleotide sequences of two gene
regions, CytB and ND2. Phylogenetic trees constructed using the neighbor-
joining, maximum parsimony,
and maximum likelihood methods consistently indicated that all 125 samples
of the two species, which are
collected from a variety of locations in Japan, can be clearly divided into
the following four clades: “Pacific
P. elapoides” (Pa-ela), “Sea of Japan P. elapoides” (SJ-ela), “Pacific P
. zonoleucus” (Pa-zon), and “Sea of
Japan P. zonoleucus” (SJ-zon). These four monophyletic clades were
supported with very high bootstrap
values. Although Pa-ela and SJ-ela composed a monophyletic clade, it is
noteworthy that the two clades of
P. elapoides also formed a monophyletic group together with SJ-zon with a
bootstrap value of 95% and 97%
by the maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining methods, respectively. We
observed several
morphological differences between Pa-ela and SJ-ela, including; 1) six dark
bands on the body in the
former versus seven dark bands in the latter and 2) more pectoral-fin rays
numbering 21–24 (mode 22) in
the latter compared to the former (19–22, mode 21). Furthermore, the
scatter plots of scores on principal
components 1 and 2 based on the morphometric characters roughly separated
the populations from each
other. Moreover, we documented the following morphological differences
between Pa-zon and SJ-zon for
the first time; 1) six light bands on the body in the former versus five
light bands in the latter and 2) the
light bands from both eyes forming a complete U-shaped marking on the
occipital region occurred in 55%
of the specimens in the former versus 16% in the latter. However, no
significant differences were found in
the morphometric characters between the two populations of P. zonoleucus.
The estimated divergence time
of the two P. zonoleucus populations was 15.06 ± 2.72 (mean ± 1 S.E.)
times earlier than that of the two P.
elapoides populations. However, the morphological differences between the
two populations of the former
were much smaller than those of the latter. An explanation for this obvious
discrepancy between
morphological and molecular features is proposed from an evolutionary point
of view.