Phylogenetic relationships of Goneaperca and the evolution of parental care in darters (Teleostei: Percidae)

Inference of evolutionary relationships among closely related darter species (Teleostei: Percidae) has traditionally proven challenging due to a lack of sufficient numbers of informative morphological characters or reliance on mtDNA sequences. These factors have contributed to longstanding uncertainty of the monophyly of many described taxonomic groups. Although multi-locus data are now available for most darter species, uncertainty has persisted regarding the relationships of some major lineages. Here, we investigate the relationships of darters classified in Goneaperca, a clade of 46 species, many of which are characterized by distinct nuptial displays and male-only parental care. Previous phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular data have failed to provide strong resolution of relationships among major Goneaperca subclades, and especially the monophyly of Catonotus. We apply coalescent and phylogenetic analyses to a dataset that includes intraspecific sampling for nearly all species of Goneaperca for 13 nuclear genes. Our coalescent species tree analyses resolved a strongly supported sister relationship between Boleosoma and a monophyletic Catonotus. Ancestor state reconstructions using the posterior distribution of these newly inferred phylogenies support a single origin of male-only parental care in the most recent common ancestor of Boleosoma and Catonotus.