História evolutiva de Scoloplax empousa Schaefer, Weitzman & Britski, 1989 ( Siluriformes: Scoloplacidae)

Abstract

Biogeographic studies with neotropical ichthyofauna are scarce, since research for a given area of science is welcome. The analysis of several delimitation methods was used to better understand the species Scoloplax empousa and its distribution in the Upper Paraná and Paraguay Basins. Molecular taxonomic approaches such as Barcode DNA have been successfully used in various taxonomic levels and groups, promoting the discovery of cryptic species, the resolution of morphological variation and the explanation of ambiguities within a taxonomic group. This approach is important for the determination of poorly known faunas, such as the Scoloplax empousa species and the genus Scoloplax in general. Studies with Barcode DNA proved to be very efficient in delimiting two morphologically identified groups as S. empousa coincidentally in the isolated regions of such basins. Biogeographic processes such as vicarious barriers were considered to explain such genetic divergence between the two populations, still using as comparative the brother taxonomic group S. distolothrix. Keyword: Barcode, Vicariance, Ichthyofauna