Análise filogenética de Cyphocharax Fowler, 1906 (Actinopterygii : Characiformes) com base em caracteres osteológicos

Abstract

Curimatidae is one of the 24 families of the order Characiformes that occur in the Neotropical region. Currently, the family consists of a monophyletic lineage formed by 112 species, in which the eight genera of Curimatidae are organized in a dichotomous sequence for Curimatopsis, Potamorhina, Curimata and Psectrogaster. In the terminal portion there is a polytomy between the genera Steindachnerina, Pseudocurimata, Curimatella and Cyphocharax, among which Cyphocharax is the only one that does not have exclusive derived characters described in the literature. The present study aimed to establish the relations of kinship between the valid species of Cyphocharax, as well as to understand its relation with the other members of the family. Data obtained from osteological analyzes and literature records were used in the preparation of a matrix that includes 170 characters and 74 terminal taxa. These data were submitted to the parsimony analysis using the TNT 1.5 software with implicit weighing considering the concavity value (K). Of the 22 hypothesized trees, a strict consensus tree was generated with 587 steps (CI = 0.29 and RI = 0.61). Results indicate that Cyphocharax is restricted to C. spilurus and C. gilli species. Several species of the genus Cyphocharax are included in Curimatella and Steindachnerina, suggesting that they belong to these taxa. Two clades that group species of Cyphocharax suggest the possibility of two new genera, and one of them would also include Curimatella meyeri.