Accurate systematic frameworks are vital to advance ecological and evolutionary studies, with an example from Australian freshwater fish (Hypseleotris)
Timothy J. Page A B H , David Sternberg A , Mark Adams C D , Stephen R. Balcombe A , Benjamin D. Cook A E , Michael P. Hammer C F , Jane M. Hughes A , Ryan J. Woods A B and Peter J. Unmack G
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Australian Rivers Institute, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Qld 4111, Australia.
B Water Planning Ecology, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, Qld 4102, Australia.
C Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
D School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
E FRC Environmental, PO Box 2363, Wellington Point, Qld 4160, Australia.
F Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, GPO Box 4646, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia.
G Institute for Applied Ecology, Building 3, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
H Corresponding author. Email: penguintim@hotmail.com
Marine and Freshwater Research 68(7) 1199-1207 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF16294
Submitted: 26 August 2016 Accepted: 17 October 2016 Published: 9 December 2016
Abstract
The practice of modern evolutionary and ecological research is interdisciplinary, with the process of evolution underpinning the diversity on display. However, the inference of evolutionary patterns can be difficult owing to their historical nature. When the biological units and evolutionary relationships involved are unclear, interpreting any ecological and biological data can be problematic. Herein we explore resulting issues when evolutionary theories rely on an unclear or incomplete biological framework, using some Australian freshwater fish (carp gudgeons: Hypseleotris, Eleotridae) as an example. Specifically, recent theories regarding the role of developmental plasticity on ontogeny and speciation have focused on this group. However, carp gudgeons have complex, and as yet incompletely understood, species boundaries and reproductive biology. Even basic data for the recognised taxa, relating to their phylogenetic relationships, life histories and species distributions, are unclear, have often been misinterpreted and are still in the process of being assembled. Combined, these factors make carp gudgeons a relatively poor group on which to apply more advanced evolutionary theories at the moment, such as the role of developmental plasticity in diversification.
Additional keywords: carp gudgeons, developmental plasticity, Eleotridae, life history, phylogenetics, species distributions, taxonomy.
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