Phylogeny, biogeography, and electric signal evolution of Neotropical knifefishes of the genus Gymnotus (Osteichthyes: Gymnotidae)

Abstract

The Neotropical knifefish genus Gymnotus is the most broadly distributed and the most diverse (34+species) gymnotiform genus. Its wide range includes both Central and South American drainages, including the Amazon, Orinoco, and La Plata Basins. Like all gymnotiforms, Gymnotus species produce weak electric fields for both navigation and communication, and these fields exhibit interspecific variation in electric waveform characteristics. Both biogeography and electric signal evolution can profitably be analyzed in a phylogenetic context. Here, we present a total evidence phylogeny for 19 Gymnotus species based on data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S genes (1558 bp), the nuclear RAG2 gene (1223 bp), and 113 morphological characters. Our phylogenetic hypothesis resolves five distinct Gymnotus lineages. In a previous morphology-based analysis, the Central American Gymnotus cylindricus lineage was hypothesized as the sister group to all other Gymnotus species. In our analysis, the G. cylindricus lineage is nested within South American species, and molecular age estimates support a relatively recent origin for the clade in Central America. Phylogenetic optimization of electric signal waveforms indicate that the ancestral state in Gymnotus is a multiphasic (4+phases of alternating polarity) condition, and independent phase loss has occurred in multiple lineages. Gymnotus is a model group for understanding Neotropical diversification and the evolution of communication at a continental scale.