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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
Published on: May 7, 2016
Origin, diversification, and historical biogeography of the genus Trachurus (Perciformes: Carangidae)
Leyla Cárdenas1, Cristián E Hernández, Elie Poulin
1Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity (CASEB), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda 340, Casilla 114D, Santiago 6513677, Chile.
Abstract:
We addressed phylogenetic relationships in the genus Trachurus using cytochrome b gene and D-loop sequences. The trees showed five groups: (1) the Southwest Pacific species (T. japonicus, T. novaezelandiae, and T. declivis); (2) The Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic species (T. mediterraneus); (3) The Atlantic Ocean species (T. lathami and T. trecae); (4) Eastern Atlantic species (T. trachurus and T. capensis); and (5) a group of highly mobile pelagic species, two from the Eastern Pacific (T. symmetricus and T. murphyi) and one from the Eastern Atlantic (T. picturatus). The phylogeny based on Cyt b, supports the molecular clock hypothesis and our results agree with the reported fossil indicating that the origin of this genus occur when the Thetys Sea closed (around 18.4 MYA). In addition, a very slow neutral substitution rate is reported identified only two periods of maximum diversification: the first occurring between 18.4 and 15.0 MYA and the second between 8.4 MYA and present day.
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